page_title: Brancasaurus
section_title: Vertebral column
hierarchical_section_title: Brancasaurus / Description / Vertebral column
caption_attribution_description: English: Figure 15: Brancasaurus brancai, GPMM A3.B4 (holotype), cranial cervical series. (A) lateral, and (B) dorsal views. Scale bar = 30 mm. The arrow points towards cranial. Abbreviations: cr, cervical rib; ncs, neurocentral suture; ns, neural spine; poz, postzygapophysis; prz, prezygapophysis.
context_page_description: Brancasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur which lived in a freshwater lake in the Early Cretaceous of what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a long neck possessing vertebrae bearing distinctively-shaped "shark fin"-shaped neural spines, and a relatively small and pointed head, Brancasaurus is superficially similar to Elasmosaurus, albeit smaller in size at 3.26 metres in length.
  The type species of this genus is Brancasaurus brancai, first named by Theodor Wegner in 1914 in honor of German paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca. Another plesiosaur named from the same region, Gronausaurus wegneri, most likely represents a synonym of this genus. While traditionally considered as a basal member of the Elasmosauridae, Brancasaurus has more recently been recovered as a member, or close relative, of the Leptocleididae, a group containing many other freshwater plesiosaurs.
context_section_description: The entire neck bears 37 cervical vertebrae, and is approximately 1.18 metres (3 ft 10 in) long. The centra of the vertebrae are wider than they are tall or long. Both ends of each vertebra are slightly concave, meaning that the vertebrae are amphicoelous. The sides of the vertebrae are likewise weakly concave; unlike many other long-necked plesiosaurs, they did not bear a ridge on the side (although this may be affected by age). The neural spines of the vertebrae are distinctively shaped like shark fins, being high and triangular. There are three pectoral vertebrae at the neck-body transition, which are weakly concave, taller than they are long, and have rectangular-shaped neural spines that are directed slightly backwards. The cervical and pectoral vertebrae have deep indentations through which the notochord passed.
  The 19 dorsal vertebrae are similar to the pectoral vertebrae, being weakly concave and taller than long, but the neural spines are proportionally taller than the centra. The single-headed dorsal ribs are rounded but slightly flattened in cross-section, and some have a prong-like projection at the top end; their articular surfaces are slightly concave. Underneath, there are at least ten pairs of gastralia, each of which tapers to the sides and has a central groove on the bottom surface. The three sacral vertebrae are similar, but have much smaller, blunter, more oval-shaped ribs. The comparatively smaller first sacral rib is directed further outwards and backwards than the other two ribs. There initially were 25 caudal vertebrae preserved, with 22 still being accounted for. The last several caudal vertebrae are partially fused into a pygostyle-like structure. The preserved caudal ribs are flattened, triangular, and taper towards the tip of the tail.
caption: Cervical vertebrae in lateral (a) and dorsal (b) views, showing distinctive neural spines
exif: {}