Callawayasaurus is named in honor of the paleontologist Jack M. Callaway, editor of Ancient Marine Reptiles who, as Carpenter put it, "in his brief career as a vertebrate paleontologist, did much to improve our understanding of marine reptiles."[2] The familiar suffix, -saurus comes from the Greek sauros (σαυρος), meaning "lizard" or "reptile."[3]
Callawayasaurus was a large plesiosaur, with a skull length of 35 centimetres (1 ft 2 in) and body length of 7.4–8 metres (24–26 ft).[4][5] The nares of Callawayasaurus are elongated and positioned over the maxilla, which has 3-5 teeth.[3]
The neck contains 56 vertebrae which are relatively short compared to other elasmosaurids.[3]Callawayasaurusfossils have no pectoral bars; in common with other plesiosaurs such as Terminonatator. They also lack postaxial accessory facets.[6]
^S. P. Welles. (1962). A new species of elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 44(1):1-96
^ abCarpenter, K. 1999. "Revision of North American elasmosaurs from the Cretaceous of the Western Interior". Paludicola 2(2):148-173.
^Maxwell, E.E.; Cortés, D.; Patarroyo, P.; Ruge, M.L.P. (2019). "A new specimen of Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia and its phylogenetic implications". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (1). e1577875. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1577875. S2CID146059015.
^Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Anthony P. Russell., "A new Elasmosaurid Plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation, Northeastern Alberta, Canada". Vertebrate Morphology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary
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