File:Plesiosaurus_dolichodeirus_NHM.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Plesiosaurus
Sign in to savePlesiosaurus (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), 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. Measuring around long, it is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. Other species once assigned to this genus, includi
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Plesiosauridae
- Image
- Plesiosaurus2.jpg
- Length
- 3.5
Show 10 more facts
- location of discovery
- Lias Group
- described by source
- The Nuttall Encyclopædia
- Commons category
- Plesiosaurus
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Plesiosaurus
- start time
- 199600000-
- end time
- 175600000-
- different from
- Plesiosauria
- time of discovery or invention
- 1823-12-00
- discoverer or inventor
- Mary Anning
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
13 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Description
- Skull and dentition
- Vertebral column
- Limbs
- Classifications
- Palaeobiology
- Palaeoenvironment
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Sources
- External links
Plesiosaurus (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), 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. Measuring around long, it is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. Other species once assigned to this genus, including P. brachypterygius, P. guilielmiimperatoris, and P. tournemirensis have been reassigned to new genera, such as Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus and Microcleidus.
==Discovery==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Plesiosaurus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.