Abyssosaurus, new plesiosaur from Cretaceous of Russia

[Ben Creisler <bscreisler@yahoo.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bscreisler@yahoo.com
 
A new paper not yet mentioned on the DML:
 
A. Yu. Berezin (2011)
A new plesiosaur of the family Aristonectidae from the Early Cretaceous of the 
center of the Russian platform. 
Paleontological Journal 45(6): 648-660
DOI: 10.1134/S0031030111060037 
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r652304tr7603762/
 
A new plesiosaur, Abyssosaurus nataliae gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper 
Hauterivian Substage (Lower Cretaceous) of Chuvashia, is described based on a 
postcranial skeleton. The new taxon is assigned to the family Aristonectidae 
where it presumably occupies an intermediate position between Late Jurassic 
Tatenectes and Kimmerosaurus and Late Cretaceous Aristonectes and Kaiwhekea. 
This is the first reliable record of this family in Russia.