Portunatasaurus krambergeri

[Ekhyl]

As it probably will become clear as it keep posting, aquatic reptiles are my favorite.

Here is Portunatasaurus krambergeri, an aquatic squamate from the Cenomanian-Turonian of Croatia.

 

In the original article that described it (Mekarski et al., 2019) it was presented as an early mosasauroid.

As a lot of things when it comes to aquatic squamate phylogeny and with mosasaurs in particular, it's hard to be sure as of yet.

What is clear is that it was a small predator that lived in the shallows of the warm Tethys sea.

 

[Brandy Cole]

This is a beautiful recreation. Thanks for sharing.

[Jaybot]

Wow!  Just wow!

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

This is such an awesome rendering of Portunatasaurus krambergeri! Very colourful and dynamic! Love it! 

 

You know what else might form an interesting subject? Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus! Another early member from the same overall geographical area. As it's supposed to be a freshwater-species too, I can totally imagine something mysterious and murky as Mark Witton's reconstruction of Leptocleidus superstes...!

 

[Ekhyl]

48 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

This is such an awesome rendering of Portunatasaurus krambergeri! Very colourful and dynamic! Love it! 

 

You know what else might form an interesting subject? Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus! Another early member from the same overall geographical area. As it's supposed to be a freshwater-species too, I can totally imagine something mysterious and murky as Mark Witton's reconstruction of Leptocleidus superstes...!

 

Thank you! I did give a try at Pannoniasaurus in my early paleoart days but I've been meaning to give it a go again! Thanks for reminding me of it :)