Simolestes

Simolestes
Temporal range: MiddleLate Jurassic
Diagram of the skull of S. vorax
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Order: Plesiosauria
Family: Pliosauridae
Clade: Thalassophonea
Genus: Simolestes
Andrews, 1909
Species
  • S. vorax (type)
  • S. indicus (?)
Synonyms

Simolestes (meaning "snub-nosed thief") is an extinct pliosaurid genus that lived in the Middle to Late Jurassic. The type specimen, NHMUK PV R 3319 is an almost complete but crushed skeleton diagnostic to Simolestes vorax, dating back to the Callovian of the Oxford Clay formation, England. The genus might also be known from the Tithonian Bhuj Formation of India (S.indicus), however the referral of this species to Simolestes is dubious. S.keileni from France was moved to the new genus Lorrainosaurus in 2023.