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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 ...
Plesiosaur gastroliths from Tropic Shale. A gastrolith, also called a stomach stone or gizzard stone, is a rock held inside a gastrointestinal tract.Gastroliths in some species are retained in the muscular gizzard and used to grind food in animals lacking suitable grinding teeth.
The belief that plesiosaurs are dinosaurs is a common misconception, and plesiosaurs are often erroneously depicted as dinosaurs in popular culture. [ 141 ] [ 142 ] It has been suggested that legends of sea serpents and modern sightings of supposed monsters in lakes or the sea could be explained by the survival of plesiosaurs into modern times.
Albertonectes is the longest elasmosaur, and more generally plesiosaur, known to date both in neck and total body length, estimated around 12 metres (39 ft) long and weighing up to 4.8 metric tons (5.3 short tons).
Mounted skeletons of Tyrannosaurus (left) and Apatosaurus (right) at the AMNH. Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago, although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research.
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 ...
The oldest confirmed plesiosauroid is Plesiosaurus itself, as all younger taxa were recently found to be pliosauroids. [2] While they were Mesozoic diapsid reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, they did not belong to the latter. Gastroliths are frequently found associated with plesiosaurs. [3]
Tuarangisaurus was a medium-sized plesiosaur, with a complete specimen (CM Zfr 115) measuring over 8 metres (26 ft) long. [8] The preserved skull measured about 37.0 cm (1 ft 2.6 in) long, and its total skull length is estimated to have been 37.5 cm (1 ft 2.8 in) long. [1]