Attenborosaurus
At-ten-bo-ro-sore-us
Name meaning: Attenborough's lizard
Time Period: Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) 196–189 mya
Locations: England-Charmouth
Taxonomy: Sauropterygia-Plesiosauria-Pliosauridae
Subspecies: A. conybeari
Characteristics ~ ~ ~ ~
Attenborosaurus is named after Acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborogh who as of 2026 is 100 years old. There are at least 50 species of animals; and 6 different genuses named after him (ususaly called attenboroughi or davidattenboroughi). The most popular genus is Attenborosaurus which is a plesiosaurid a group of long necked oceanic reptiles. However Attenborosaurus neck only had around 20 vertebrae compared to others like Plesiosaurus which had around 40. This is because Attenborosaurus is considered to be an early ancestor to the pliosaurids like Lioplurodon which had short necks and large heads to feed on larger bodied prey.
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History & Fossils ~ ~ ~ ~
Attenborosaurus was initially found in 1880 with the holotype being NHMUK PV R 1339. However at the time it was considered to be a species of Plesiosaurus called P. conybeari named after William Conybeare. In 1993 after furthur anaylsis when producing casts of the fossils, it was found there were enough differences to consider P. conybeari as it's own genus. The original Attenborosaurus fossils were destroyed in a WWII bombing in 1940.
Media Deptictions ~ ~ ~ ~
Attenborosaurus was part of the deluxe edition. I treated Attenborosaurus as a not ugly Elasmosaurus until Styxosaurus came out. Jwe2's Attenborosaurus is a gorgeous and grounded design the parallel lines down the side look nice it has an upturned mouth which gives it the appearance of always smiling. Attenborosaurus also has interesting sound design making these trumpeting bellows that sound similar yet unalike to whale vocalizations that are kind of creepy yet serene. Attenborosaurus was in Jurassic World Evolution 3 at launch.
