Kronosaurus

*Kronosaurus queenslandicus*

***Kronosaurus*** (meaning "Lizard of Kronos") is a potentially dubious genus of large carnivorous marine reptile that belong to the order of Plesiosauria and the suborder of Pliosauroidea.

*Kronosaurus* lived during the early Cretaceous Period and was one of the largest genus of pliosaur, reaching about 9–10 meters in total body length. *Kronosaurus* was probably one of the top under-sea predators of its time.

The genus specimens have reassigned into new categories Eiectus and Monquirasaurus.

Its diet consisted predominantly of fish and other under sea creatures, including marine dinosaurs and other marine reptiles. *Kronosaurus* had a head the size of an average human.

## Discovery

In 1899, Andrew Crombie discovered six fossil conical teeth and gave to the Queensland Museum. Twenty-five years later, then-director Heber Longman formally described the specimen as the holotype of a new species: *Kronosaurus queenslandicus*. More *Kronosaurus* material, including a partial skull, was discovered in 1929, in the same location as Crombie's original find.

## Description

The genus was named after the most powerful Titan in Greek Mythology, Kronos.

The fossils of smaller plesiosaurs strongly suggests that *Kronosaurus* and its relatives may have preyed upon smaller plesiosaur species. This massive marine reptile was the biggest and baddest marine predator of the large inland sea that covered western Queensland in the Cretaceous. It used teeth the size of bananas to feast on ichthyosaurs, other plesiosaurs, turtles and fish. *Kronosaurus* has special air chambers on its snout that are used to scent prey in the same way as a pair of ears work, pinpointing exactly where a smell is coming from.

Body-length estimates had previously put the total length of *Kronosaurus* at 13.0 meters (43 feet). However, a more recent study comparing fossil specimens of *Kronosaurus* to other pliosaurs suggests that the previous estimate was, likely, an exaggeration, with the more accurate length estimations probably being only 9 to 11.5 meters (30–33 feet). The teeth of *Kronosaurus* are large in length (exceeding 7 centimeters - the largest up to 30 centimeters long with 12 centimeters crowns). However, they lack carinae (cutting edges) and the distinct trihedral (three facets) of *Pliosauru*s and *Liopleurodon* teeth. The combination of large size, conical shape and lack of cutting edges allows for easy identification of *Kronosaurus* teeth in Cretaceous deposits from Australia.

*Kronosaurus* lived in the Early Cretaceous Period (Aptian-Albian). The holotype specimen of the species *K. queenslandicus* was described by Longman in 1924, and is currently in the Queensland Museum. Hampe described a second species, *K. boyacensis*, in 1992 from Colombia. A preserved K. *boyacensis* can be seen in Villa de Leiva Boyaca, Columbia..

In more recent analysis, it has been said that all the non-holotype specimens of *Kronosaurus* have been put into different species and that the holotype should be restricted as the only specimen. And in that paper Noe and Gomez-Perez say that even the Holotype is undiagnostic with other pliosaurs! Making *Kronosaurus* a dubious genus.

## Classification

*Kronosaurus* belonged to the Pliosauridae family. The cladogram below follows a 2011 analysis by paleontologists Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson, reduced to genera only.

## Palaeobiology

Fossil stomach contents from Northern Queensland show that *Kronosaurus* preyed on turtles and plesiosaurs. Fossil remains of large octobrachians [34] have been found in the same area as *Kronosaurus*. While no direct evidence of the animal predating on these octobrachians exists they fall within the projected size range of prey *Kronosaurus* would potentially have pursued.[7]

Large, round bite-marks have been found on the skull of an Albian-age Australian elasmosaurid (*Eromangasaurus*) that could be from a *Kronosaurus* attack.[35][36]

## Paleoecology

*Kronosaurus* is known from remains in Australia. The area was covered by a shallow inland sea called the Eromanga Sea which *Kronosaurus* inhabited.[37] This environment was notably cold, experiencing near freezing temperatures [38] and seasonal ice in certain regions.[7][39]

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* *Kronosaurus* appeared in Jurassic Park: Builder.
* *Kronosaurus* appeared in Jurassic World: The Game.
* *Kronosaurus* appeared in Jurassic World Evolution 2.

## References

Template:References

1. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667121003700?via%3Dihub
2. ↑ https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/extinct-animals/kronosaurus-queenslandicus/
3. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667121003700?via%3Dihub