Tuarangisaurus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of elasmosaurid known from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Tuarangisaurus is known from the holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 NZGS CD425, a nearly complete skull

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 and mandible

Mandible

The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...

 and from NZGS CD426, nine anterior-most cervical vertebrae. Some postcrania

Postcrania

Postcrania[p] in zoology and vertebrate paleontology refers to all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g...

l remains of juveniles were also attributed to Tuarangisaurus. It was collected from the Tahora Formation

Tahora Formation

The Tahora Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation. Indeterminate Dinosaur remains have been recovered from the formation, including indeterminate Joan Wiffen's Theropod, Titanosaur, Nodosaurid, and Hypsilophodont Dinosaurs of New Zealand remains...

, dating to the middle Campanian

Campanian

The Campanian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch . The Campanian spans the time from 83.5 ± 0.7 Ma to 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma ...

 stage of the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

, about 78 million years ago. It was first named by Wiffen and Moisley in 1985

1986 in paleontology

-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-Pterosaurs:...

. The type

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

and only known species is Tuarangisaurus keyesi. The estimated length is about 8 meters.