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
- Image
- Plesiosaurus2.jpg
- Length
- 3.5
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Plesiosaurus
- taxon name
- Plesiosaurus
- start time
- 199600000-
- end time
- 175600000-
- time of discovery or invention
- 1823-12-00
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~14 min read
Article
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==