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Plesiosaurus (Greek: πλησίος (plesios), near to + σαῦρος (sauros), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England.
The fact that the osteology of the plesiosaur's neck makes it absolutely safe to say that the plesiosaur could not lift its head like a swan out of water as the Loch Ness monster does, the assumption that air-breathing animals would be easy to see whenever they appear at the surface to breathe, [146] the fact that the loch is too small and ...
Elasmosaurus differed from all other plesiosaurs by having 72 neck vertebrae; more may have been present but were later lost to erosion or after excavation. Only Albertonectes had more neck vertebrae, 76, and the two are the only plesiosaurs with a count higher than 70; more than 60 vertebrae is very derived (or "advanced") for plesiosaurs. [14 ...
This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms.The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that ...
Pliosaurus brachydeirus is the (combinatio nova of the) type species of the genus. It was first described and named by the English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841, as a species of the wastebasket taxon Plesiosaurus in its own subgenus Pleiosaurus, creating Plesiosaurus (Pleiosaurus) brachydeirus. [5]
Like many plesiosaurs, elasmosaurids are easily recognizable by their compact, streamlined bodies, long paddle-like limbs, short tails, proportionately small heads, and very elongated necks. [2] The oldest known representative, Jucha , dating from the Hauterivian stage of the Lower Cretaceous , [ 1 ] would have measured 5 m (16 ft) long. [ 6 ]
Nichollssaura was a small plesiosaur, estimated up to 2.6–2.9 m (8.5–9.5 ft) in length and 135 kg (298 lb) in body mass based on a complete specimen (TMP 1994.122.1). [5] [6] It fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs. Life restoration of two individuals
On 12 August 2011, researchers from the U.S. described a fossil of a pregnant plesiosaur found on a Kansas ranch in 1987. [11] The plesiosauroid, Polycotylus latippinus , has confirmed that these predatory marine reptiles gave birth to single, large, live offspring—contrary to other marine reptile reproduction which typically involves a large ...