Yuzhoupliosaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Rhomaleosauridae
Genus:	†Yuzhoupliosaurus Zhang, 1985
Type species
†Yuzhoupliosaurus chengjiangensis Zhang, 1985

Yuzhoupliosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The genus is known only from a lower jaw, a vertebra, and fragments of a pectoral girdle. It is believed this genus lived in fresh water.

Etymology

The genus was named after Yuzhou (渝州), the previous name of Chongqing, a major city on the Yangtze River where the first fossil of Yuzhoupliosaurus was found.

Description

Paleontologists believe Yuzhoupliosaurus to have been approximatively 4 meters long. The lower jaw contains five pairs of large teeth and 23 or 24 smaller teeth. The cervical vertebra are considered "high and short". The anterior cervical ribs are double-headed while the posterior cervical ribs are single-headed. The coracoids are elongated and the clavicles are well developed.