biology

Stenorhynchosaurus

Stenorhynchosaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stenorhynchosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Stenorhynchosaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaurid plesiosaurs which lived in the Early Cretaceous of South America. The type species and only known is Stenorhynchosaurus munozi.

Key takeaways

Stenorhynchosaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stenorhynchosaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stenorhynchosaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Stenorhynchosaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaurid plesiosaurs which lived in the Early Cretaceous of South America. The type species and only known is Stenorhynchosaurus munozi.

Etymology The genus name is derived from the Greek words stenos, "narrow"; rhynchos, "snout" and sauros, "lizard", while the specific name munozi is in recognition of Jorge Muñoz by discover and report the fossil.

Discovery and naming

Fossils from the front of a snout of a plesiosaur were discovered in 2000 on the property of Jorge Muñoz, in Loma La Cabrera, near Villa de Leyva in Boyacá, Colombia, on grounds of marine origin dating from the Late Barremian age of the Cretaceous. Muñoz reported the find to the local authorities, who in turn gave notice to staff of the Museo Geológico José Royo y Gómez administered by the Servicio Geológico Colombiano in Bogotá. Then was made the excavation of the nearly complete skeleton between 2004 and 2005, in collaboration with the Fundación Colombiana de Geobiología ("Colombian Geobiology Foundation"), and the remains being then transferred to Bogotá, assigning the catalog number VL17052004-1, for preparation and study. The remains were found articulated mostly in the Segment C of the Arcillolitas Abigarradas Member of the Paja Formation, with kaolinitic argillite corresponding to an intertidal marine environment, with several specimens of ammonites or impressions of these in the rock matrix, including one inside the skull. These ammonites include the species Gerhardtia galeatoides, G. provincialis and the genus Heinzia, typical of the Barremian. German paleontologist Oliver Hampe made an initial description of the specimen in 2005, classifying it as Brachauchenius sp., i.e. as an indeterminate species of this genus, previously only recorded in Upper Cretaceous sediments of the United States, and it constitutes the first reappearance of non-rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs after a hiatus between the Berriasian and Hauterivian. In 2016, María Páramo, Marcela Gómez-Pérez, Fernando Etayo and Leslie Noé made a more complete description and they designated to VL17052004-1 as holotype of a new genus and species, Stenorhynchosaurus munozi.

Description It was a medium-sized pliosaur, reaching an adult body length of 7 m (23 ft).

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stenorhynchosaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stenorhynchosaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stenorhynchosaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stenorhynchosaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stenorhynchosaurus

In research: Stenorhynchosaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stenorhynchosaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stenorhynchosaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Barremian life, Cretaceous Colombia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stenorhynchosaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stenorhynchosaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stenorhynchosaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stenorhynchosaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stenorhynchosaurus in simple terms?

Stenorhynchosaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaurid plesiosaurs which lived in the Early Cretaceous of South America. The type species and only known is Stenorhynchosaurus munozi.

Why does Stenorhynchosaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stenorhynchosaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stenorhynchosaurus.