Plesiosaur Fossil range: Early Jurassic - Late Cretaceous
Plesiosaurus. For general context see Jurassic. The Early Jurassic (in geology referred to as the Lower Jurassic, originally (and still in Europe the Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England Plesiosaurus (Greek πλησιος / plesios, near to + σαυρος / sauros, lizard was a large (about 3 to 5 meters long marine
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: †Sauropterygia Order: †Plesiosauria Suborder: †Plesiosauroidea Gray, 1825
Families
†Cimoliasauridae †Cryptoclididae †Elasmosauridae †Plesiosauridae †Polycotylidae

Plesiosaurs (pronounced /ˈpliːsɪəˌsɔr/) (Greek: plesios meaning 'near' or 'close to' and sauros meaning 'lizard') were carnivorous aquatic (mostly marine) reptiles. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Sauropterygia (" Lizard Flippers quot is a group of very successful aquatic Reptiles that flourished during the Age of the Dinosaurs before Plesiosauria (ˌpliːsiəˈsɔriə ( Greek: plesios meaning 'near to' and sauros meaning 'lizard' are an order of Mesozoic Marine John Edward Gray ( 12 February 1800 &ndash 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. In Biological classification, family ( Latin The Cimoliasauridae are a poorly known family of Plesiosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Cryptoclididae is a family of medium size Plesiosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. Elasmosauridae was the family of Plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Plesiosaurus (Greek πλησιος / plesios, near to + σαυρος / sauros, lizard was a large (about 3 to 5 meters long marine Polycotylidae is a family of Plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to the Elasmosauridae. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c A carnivore (ˈkɑrnɪvɔər meaning 'meat eater' ( Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour' is any animal with a diet consisting Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers After their discovery, they were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell. The common name 'plesiosaur' is applied both to the 'true' plesiosaurs (Suborder Plesiosauroidea) which includes both long-necked (elasmosaurs) and short-necked (polycotylid) forms and to the larger taxonomic rank of Plesiosauria, which includes the pliosaurs. Plesiosauria (ˌpliːsiəˈsɔriə ( Greek: plesios meaning 'near to' and sauros meaning 'lizard' are an order of Mesozoic Marine The Pliosaurs ("more lizards" were marine reptiles from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosaurs were the short-necked, large-headed plesiosaurians that were the apex predators for much of the Mesozoic. The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. There were many species of plesiosaurs, while most of them were not as large as Elasmosaurus. Elasmosaurus (iːˌlæzmoʊˈsɔrəs Greek ελασμος / elasmos = thin plate (referring to thin plates in its Pelvic girdle

Plesiosaurs (sensu Plesiosauroidea) appeared at the start of the Jurassic Period and thrived until the K-T extinction, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Sensu is a Latin term meaning "in the sense of"It is used in fields including biology geology and law in the phrases sensu stricto The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Ma (million years ago to  Ma that is from the end of the Triassic to the beginning The Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, which occurred approximately ( Ma) was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of While they were Mesozoic reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, they were not dinosaurs. The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon.

Contents 1 History of discovery 2 Description 3 Behaviour 4 Taxonomy 5 In popular culture 5.1 Alleged living plesiosaurs 6 See also 7 Literature 8 References 9 External links 10 Notes

History of discovery

The first plesiosaur skeletons were found in England by Mary Anning, in the early 1800s, and were amongst the first fossil vertebrates to be described by science. Mary Anning ( May 21, 1799 &ndash March 9, 1847) was an early British Fossil collector and paleontologist. Many have been found, some of them virtually complete, and new discoveries are made frequently. One of the finest specimens was found in 2002 on the coast of Somerset (England) by someone fishing from the shore. Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county This specimen, called the Collard specimen after its finder, was on display in Taunton museum in 2007. Taunton is the County town of Somerset, England. The Unparished area (or former Municipal borough) of Taunton has a Population Another, less complete skeleton was also found in 2002, in the cliffs at Filey, Yorkshire, England, by an amateur palaeontologist. Filey is a small town and Civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The preserved skeleton is displayed at Scarborough Rotunda Museum. Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England.

Many museums have plesiosaur specimens. Notable among them is the collection of plesiosaurs in the Natural History Museum, London, which are on display in the marine reptiles gallery. The Natural History Museum is one of three large Museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London (the others are the Science Museum London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Several historically important specimens can be found there, including the partial skeleton from Nottinghamshire reported by Stukely in 1719 which is the earliest written record of any marine reptile. Others specimens include those purchased from Thomas Hawkins in the early 19th century.

Specimens are on display in museums in the UK, including New Walk Museum, Leicester, The Yorkshire Museum, The Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, Manchester Museum, Warwick Museum, Bristol Museum and the Dorset Museum. The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, opened in 1904 is the Geology museum of the University of Cambridge in England. The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery is a large Museum and Art gallery in Bristol, England. A specimen was put on display in Lincoln Museum in 2005. Peterborough Museum holds an excellent collection of plesiosaur material from the Oxford Clay brick pits in the area. The most complete known specimen of the long-necked plesiosaur Cryptoclidus, excavated in the 1980s can be seen there. Cryptoclidus (crip-TOE-clide-us was a Genus of Plesiosaur (a type of marine Reptile) from the Middle Jurassic Period

Description

Plesiosaurs had a broad body and a short tail. The tail is the section at the rear end of an Animal 's Body; in general the term refers to a distinct flexible Appendage to the Torso. They retained their ancestral two pairs of limbs, which evolved into large flippers. A flipper is typically flat limb evolved for movement through water Plesiosaurs evolved from earlier, similar forms such as pistosaurs or very early, longer-necked pliosaurs. Pistosaurus longaevus is an extinct genus of aquatic Sauropterygian Reptile belonging to the Plesiosaur order The Pliosaurs ("more lizards" were marine reptiles from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. There are a number of families of plesiosaurs, which retain the same general appearance and are distinguished by various specific details. In Biological classification, family ( Latin These include the Plesiosauridae, unspecialised types which are limited to the Early Jurassic period; Cryptoclididae, (e. Plesiosaurus (Greek πλησιος / plesios, near to + σαυρος / sauros, lizard was a large (about 3 to 5 meters long marine For general context see Jurassic. The Early Jurassic (in geology referred to as the Lower Jurassic, originally (and still in Europe the Cryptoclididae is a family of medium size Plesiosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. g. Cryptoclidus), with a medium-long neck and somewhat stocky build; Elasmosauridae, with very long, inflexible necks and tiny heads; and the Cimoliasauridae, a poorly known group of small Cretaceous forms. Cryptoclidus (crip-TOE-clide-us was a Genus of Plesiosaur (a type of marine Reptile) from the Middle Jurassic Period Elasmosauridae was the family of Plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Early Jurassic to the end of the The Cimoliasauridae are a poorly known family of Plesiosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. According to traditional classifications, all plesiosaurs have a small head and long neck but, in recent classifications, one short-necked and large-headed Cretaceous group, the Polycotylidae, are included under the Plesiosauroidea, rather than under the traditional Pliosauroidea. Polycotylidae is a family of Plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to the Elasmosauridae. Size of different plesiosaurs varied significantly, with an estimated length of Trinacromerum being 3 meters and Thalassomedon growing to 12 meters. Trinacromerum is an extinct genus of Sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosaur suborder Thalassomedon is a Genus of Plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943 ^[1]

Behaviour

Unlike their pliosaurian cousins, plesiosaurs (with the exception of the Polycotylidae) were probably slow swimmers {Massare, 1988}. It is likely that they cruised slowly below the surface of the water, using their long flexible neck to move their head into position to snap up unwary fish or cephalopods. The cephalopods ( Greek plural (kephalópoda "head-feet" are the Mollusc class Cephalopoda characterized by Their four-flippered swimming adaptation may have given them exceptional maneuverability, so that they could swiftly rotate their bodies as an aid to catching prey.

Contrary to many reconstructions of plesiosaurs, it would have been impossible for them to lift their head and long neck above the surface, in the 'swan-like' pose that is often shown {Everhart, 2005; Henderson, 2006}. Swans are Birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and Ducks Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in Even if they had been able to bend their necks upward to that degree (which they could not), gravity would have tipped their body forward and kept most of the heavy neck in the water.

Taxonomy

The classification of plesiosaurs has varied; the following represents one version (see O'Keefe 2001)

• Superorder SAUROPTERYGIA
  • Order PLESIOSAURIA
    • Suborder Pliosauroidea
    • Suborder Plesiosauroidea(Gray, 1825) Welles, 1943 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
      • Plesiopterys O'Keefe, 2004
      • Family Plesiosauridae Gray, 1825 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
        • Attenborosaurus Bakker, 1993
        • Plesiosaurus De la Beche & Conybeare, 1821
      • (Unranked) Euplesiosauria O'Keefe, 2001
        •  ? Sthenarosaurus Watson, 1911 (nomen dubium)
        •  ? Eretmosaurus Seeley, 1874
        •  ? Leurospondylus Brown, 1913
        • Superfamily Cryptoclidoidea Williston, 1925 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
          • Family Cryptoclididae Williston, 1925 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
            •  ? Tatenectes O’Keefe & Wahl, 2003
            •  ? Colymbosaurus Seeley, 1874
            • Cryptocleidus Seeley, 1892
            • Muraenosaurus Seeley, 1874
            • Pantosaurus Marsh, 1891
            • Vinialesaurus Gasparini, Bardet & Iturralde-Vinent, 2002
          • (Unranked) Tricleidia O'Keefe, 2001
            • Family Tricledidae Nova
              • Tricleidus Andrews, 1909
            • Family Cimoliasauridae Delair, 1959 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
              •  ? Aristonectes Cabrea, 1941
              • Kaiwhekea Cruickshank & Fordyce, 2002
              • Kimmerosaurus Brown, 1981
              • Cimoliasaurus Leidy, 1851 (nomen dubium)
            • Family Polycotylidae Williston, 1909 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
              •  ? Edgarosaurus Druckenmiller, 2002
              •  ? Georgiasaurus Otschev, 1978
              • Polycotylus Cope, 1869
              • Dolichorhynchops Willison, 1903
              • Trinacromerum Cragin, 1888
              • Sulcusuchus Gasparini & Spalletti, 1990
              • Thililua Bardet, Pereda Suberbiola & Jalil, 2003
            • Family Elasmosauridae Cope, 1869 sensu Bardet, Godefroit & Sciau, 1999
              •  ? Morenosaurus Welles, 1943
              • Occitanosaurus Bardet, Godefroit & Sciau, 1999
              • Microcleidus Watson, 1911
            • Family Elasmosauridae Cope, 1869 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
              •  ? Futabasaurus Sato, Hasegawa & Manabe, 2006
              •  ? Orophosaurus Cope, 1887 (nomen dubium)
              •  ? Woolungasaurus Persson, 1960
              •  ? Ogmodirus Williston & Moodie, 1913 (nomen dubium)
              •  ? Fresnosaurus Welles, 1943
              •  ? Piptomerus Cope, 1887 (nomen vanum)
              •  ? Goniosaurus Meyer, 1860
              •  ? Mauisaurus Hector, 1874
              •  ? Aphrosaurus Welles, 1943
              •  ? Hydrotherosaurus Welles, 1943
              •  ? Hydralmosaurus Welles, 1943
              •  ? Terminonatator Sato, 2003
              •  ? Turangisaurus Wiffen & Moisley, 1986
              •  ? Thalassomedon Welles, 1943
              • Elasmosaurus Cope, 1869
              • Brancasaurus Wegner, 1914
              • Callawayasaurus Carpenter, 1999
              • Libonectes Carpenter, 1997
              • Styxosaurus Welles, 1943

In popular culture

The plesiosaur is popular among children and cryptozoologists, appearing in a number of children's books and several films, including in Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. Attenborosaurus is an Extinct Genus of Plesiosaur from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England. Cryptoclidus (crip-TOE-clide-us was a Genus of Plesiosaur (a type of marine Reptile) from the Middle Jurassic Period Muraenosaurus (' Moray eel lizard' is an Extinct Genus of Sauropterygian Reptile. Dolichorhynchops is a genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing two Species Thililua is a Genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur, containing one Species, T Thalassomedon is a Genus of Plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943 Libonectes is an extinct genus of Sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur order Styxosaurus is a Genus of Plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae. Sauropterygia (" Lizard Flippers quot is a group of very successful aquatic Reptiles that flourished during the Age of the Dinosaurs before Plesiosauria (ˌpliːsiəˈsɔriə ( Greek: plesios meaning 'near to' and sauros meaning 'lizard' are an order of Mesozoic Marine The Pliosaurs ("more lizards" were marine reptiles from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Plesiosaurus (Greek πλησιος / plesios, near to + σαυρος / sauros, lizard was a large (about 3 to 5 meters long marine Attenborosaurus is an Extinct Genus of Plesiosaur from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England. Plesiosaurus (Greek πλησιος / plesios, near to + σαυρος / sauros, lizard was a large (about 3 to 5 meters long marine Leurospondylus is a Genus of Plesiosaur whose family is not known for certain but is thought to be Plesiosauridae. Cryptoclididae is a family of medium size Plesiosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. Colymbosaurus is a genus of English Plesiosaur described in 1874 by Seeley. Cryptoclidus (crip-TOE-clide-us was a Genus of Plesiosaur (a type of marine Reptile) from the Middle Jurassic Period Muraenosaurus (' Moray eel lizard' is an Extinct Genus of Sauropterygian Reptile. The Cimoliasauridae are a poorly known family of Plesiosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Kimmerosaurus ("lizard from Kimmeridge" is an Extinct Genus of Plesiosaur from the family Cimoliasauridae Polycotylidae is a family of Plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to the Elasmosauridae. Edgarosaurus is a Genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur, containing one Species, E Dolichorhynchops is a genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing two Species Trinacromerum is an extinct genus of Sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosaur suborder Sulcusuchus is a genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. Thililua is a Genus of polycotylid Plesiosaur, containing one Species, T Elasmosauridae was the family of Plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Microcleidus is an extinct genus of Sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur suborder Elasmosauridae was the family of Plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Futabasaurus is a Genus of Plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Fukushima Japan. Woolungasaurus glendowerensis ('Glendower's Woolunga lizard' named after an Aboriginal mythical reptile Persson 1960 was a Plesiosaur, an extinct marine Mauisaurus ("Maui reptile" was a Genus of Plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period around 65 million years ago in what Hydrotherosaurus (meaning "water beast lizard" is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid Plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous ( Maastrichtian Terminonatator (meaning "last swimmer" is a Genus of elasmosaurid Plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Saskatchewan Thalassomedon is a Genus of Plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943 Elasmosaurus (iːˌlæzmoʊˈsɔrəs Greek ελασμος / elasmos = thin plate (referring to thin plates in its Pelvic girdle Callawayasaurus is a Genus of Plesiosaur from the family, Elasmosauridae. Libonectes is an extinct genus of Sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur order Styxosaurus is a Genus of Plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae. Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός kruptos, "hidden" + Zoology; literally "study of hidden animals" is the study of and search Children's literature is an age category of literature written for published for or marketed to Children roughly through age 12 Jules Gabriel Verne ( February 8 1828 &ndash March 24 1905) was a French Author who pioneered the science-fiction A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Voyage au centre de la Terre also translated as A Journey to the Interior of the Earth, is a classic 1864 However, in Verne's story it is described as being much larger than they were in reality, and shown as having a shell like a turtle. Turtles are Reptiles of the Order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the Crown group Chelonia) most of In the bizarre 1899 short story "The Monster of Lake LaMetrie", a man's brain was put into the body of a plesiosaur.

Plesiosaurs have appeared in films about lake monsters, including Magic in the Water (1995), and movies about the Loch Ness Monster, such as Loch Ness (1996). Lake monster or loch monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have purportedly been sighted in and/or are believed to dwell in freshwaters although their existence Magic in the Water is a 1995 Family film directed by Rick Stevenson and starring Mark Harmon and Joshua Jackson. The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness Loch Ness is a 1996 family Drama film starring Ted Danson and Joely Richardson. In both films, the creature primarily serves as a symbol of a lost, child-like sense of wonder. The musical instrument is spelled Cymbal. A symbol is something --- such as an object, Picture, written word a sound a piece Plesiosaurs are also present in the Japanese Jaws-inspired movie Legend of the Dinosaurs (1983). Jaws is a 1975 thriller / horror Film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley 's best-selling

Contrary to reports, the long-necked, sharp-toothed animal in the classic film King Kong (1933), which flips a raft full of rescuers on their way to save Fay Wray, and then devours the swimmers, is not a plesiosaur. King Kong is the name of a fictional giant ape from the fictional Skull Island, who has appeared in several works since 1933 Vina Fay Wray ( September 15, 1907 &ndash August 8, 2004) was a Canadian &ndash American actress and the first Despite striking a profile in the mist very similar to the famous 'Surgeon's Photo' of the Loch Ness Monster, it then chases the routed heroes onto dry land, where it is clearly intended to be a diplodocid sauropod. Diplodocids, or members of the family Diplodocidae ("double beams" are a group of Sauropod Dinosaurs The family includes some of the longest Sauropoda (sɔˈrɒpədə or the sauropods (/ˈsɔroʊpɒd/ are a suborder or infraorder of the Saurischian ("lizard-hipped" However, Kong later battles a serpent-like creature in a cave which possesses four flippers, resembles a plesiosaur, but acts more like a giant snake.

Alleged living plesiosaurs

Main articles: sea monster, lake monster, Loch Ness Monster, and Zuiyo Maru

Lake or sea monster sightings are occasionally explained by cryptozoologists as plesiosaurs. Ogopogo is the name given to a Lake monster reported to live in Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Sea monsters are sea-dwelling mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size Lake monster or loch monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have purportedly been sighted in and/or are believed to dwell in freshwaters although their existence The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness The Zuiyō Maru (瑞洋丸 ずいようまる was a Japanese Fishing trawler that caught a creature initially claimed to be a prehistoric Plesiosaur Sea monsters are sea-dwelling mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός kruptos, "hidden" + Zoology; literally "study of hidden animals" is the study of and search With the lack of fossil evidence for plesiosaurs surviving past the K/T boundary, the discovery of real and even more ancient living fossils, such as the coelacanth, and of previously unknown but enormous deep-sea animals such as the giant squid and the megamouth shark, have fuelled imaginations. The K-T boundary is a geological signature usually a thin band dated to 65 Living fossil is an informal term for any living Species (or Clade) of organism which appears Coelacanth (ˈsiːləkænθ adaptation of Modern Latin Cœlacanthus > cœl-us + acanth-us from Greek κοῖλ-ος + ἄκανθ-α) is the common name for The giant squid ( Genus: Architeuthis) is a deep-ocean dwelling Squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is an extremely rare and unusual species of deepwater Shark.

The 1977 discovery of a carcass with flippers and what appeared to be a long neck and head, by the Japanese fishing trawler Zuiyo Maru, off New Zealand, created a plesiosaur craze in Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. A commercial trawler is a commercial Fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. The Zuiyō Maru (瑞洋丸 ずいようまる was a Japanese Fishing trawler that caught a creature initially claimed to be a prehistoric Plesiosaur New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island However, the consensus amongst scientists today is that it was a decayed basking shark. The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, is the second largest Fish, after the Whale shark.

The Loch Ness Monster, and other lake monsters, have been reported to resemble plesiosaurs. The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness The lake plesiosaur theory is considered unlikely for many reasons, including: they are generally too cold for a large cold-blooded animal to survive easily, and that air-breathing animals, like plesiosaurs, would be easily spotted when they surface to breathe. Cold-blooded organisms (called poikilotherms - "of varying temperature" maintain their body temperatures in ways different from Mammals and Birds In 2003, the National Museums of Scotland confirmed that vertebrae discovered on the shores of Loch Ness belong to a plesiosaur, but the fossils were deliberately planted (BBC News, July 16, 2003). National Museums Scotland is the family of several National museums in Scotland. A vertebra (plural vertebrae) is an individual Irregular bone in the spinal or Vertebral column ( aka ischis a flexuous and flexible column Loch Ness ( Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nis) is a large deep freshwater Loch in the Scottish Highlands ( extending for approximately 37 km (23 miles FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system.

Research announced in 2006, by Leslie Noè of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, UK, cast further doubt on the lake plesiosaur theory. The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, opened in 1904 is the Geology museum of the University of Cambridge in England. While many sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, and similar from around the globe, include reports of it lifting its head out of the water, Noè's study of fossilized vertebrae of Muraenosaurus concluded this articulation would not be possible. Muraenosaurus (' Moray eel lizard' is an Extinct Genus of Sauropterygian Reptile. Instead, he found that the neck evolved to point downwards allowing the plesiosaur to feed on soft-shelled animals living on the sea floor. ^[2]

Beached carcasses that prove controversial or hard to identify, a phenomenon known as globsters, have fueled the speculation about living plesiosaurs. A globster, or blob, is an unidentified organic mass that washes up on the Shoreline of an ocean or other body of water For example, The Star on April 8, 2006, reported that fishermen discovered bones resembling that of a plesiosaur near Sabah, Malaysia. The Star is the leading English-language Tabloid format Newspaper in Malaysia. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and A team of researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah investigated the specimen, but determined the bones were those of a whale. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (University of Malaysia Sabah or UMS is the ninth Malaysian public university located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

See also

• Australian plesiosaurs
• Kansas Plesiosaurs

Literature

See also Mike Everhart's "Marine Reptile References" and scans of "Early papers on North American plesiosaurs" on the Oceans of Kansas Paleontology website.

References

1. ^ Mike Everhart (2006). The longest neck in the ocean. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger
2. ^ Why the Loch Ness Monster is no plesiosaur - life - 02 November 2006 - New Scientist

External links

• Fox News: Possibly Complete Plesiosaur Skeleton Found in Arctic
• The Plesiosaur Site. Richard Forrest.
• The Plesiosaur Directory. Adam Stuart Smith.
• Plesiosaur FAQ's. Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog.
• Oceans of Kansas Paleontology. Mike Everhart.
• Where the elasmosaurs roam: Separating fact from fiction. Mike Everhart.
• The history of the description of a plesiosaur as a "snake drawn through the shell of a turtle. Mike Everhart and other contributors.
• "Plesiosaur fossil found in Bridgwater Bay". Somersert Museums County Service. (best known fossil)
• "Fossil hunters turn up 50-ton monster of prehistoric deep". Allan Hall and Mark Henderson. Times Online, December 30, 2002. (Monster of Aramberri)
• "A Jurassic fossil discovered in Loch Ness by a Scots pensioner could be the original Loch Ness monster, according to Nessie enthusiasts". BBC News, July 16, 2003. (Loch Ness, possible hoax)
• "Sea-monster or shark? an analysis of a supposed plesiosaur carcass netted in 1977". Glen J. Kuban.
• "A Plesiosaur? Here is the other side of the story. It looks like one to me.". Internet reference to article.
• Triassic reptiles had live young.
• Bridgwater Bay juvenile plesiosaur
• The Filey (Yorkshire) Plesiosaur 2002 (part 1)
• The Filey (Yorkshire) Plesiosaur 2002 (part 2)
• - Plesiosaur in Nebraska - NET Television
• Antarctic Researchers to Discuss Difficult Recovery of Unique Juvenile Plesiosaur Fossil, from the National Science Foundation, December 6, 2006.

Notes

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