文摘
Plesiosaur fossils from the uppermost Tithonian (Upper Jurassic) to lower Valanginian (Lower Cretaceous) Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, England are important because they constitute a rare record from around the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. Where diagnostic, the remains are referred to indeterminate plesiosauroids (Cryptocleidoidea) and represent relatively small animals including a previously undescribed juvenile individual. This observation accords with the lagoonal-lacustrine (with periodic marine influx) depositional setting of the Purbeck Limestone Group strata, a palaeoenvironment that is often associated with juvenile plesiosaur occurrences.