"A steady neck would be more hydrodynamic than a bent neck, and due to the pressure on a bent neck, plesiosaurs would probably only bend them when moving at slow speeds or when floating,' says Ms Troelsen. ... Several possible theories suggest that plesiosaurs may have developed long necks to extend their feeding range.

Why was Elasmosaurus neck so long?

Some researchers have also suggested that the long necks of elasmosaurs might have been used to generate lift in a similar way. Their long necks have a slight bend around the middle of their length which could be used like the curved wing of a plane. This would further help with long-distance cruising.

What plesiosaur has the longest neck?

Based on the number of cervical (neck) vertebrae, the animal with the longest neck (living or extinct) is the plesiosaur Albertonectes vanderveldei, a marine reptile that was unearthed in the Upper Cretaceous Bearpaw Formation in southern Alberta, Canada.

Did plesiosaurs have flexible necks?

The plesiosaur was also able to angle its neck upwards and downwards, but not nearly with the same flexibility. This might indicate that side-to-side neck motions were more important to its behavior than movements in the vertical plane.

What did plesiosaurs actually look like?

The typical plesiosaur had a broad, flat, body and a short tail. Plesiosaurs retained their ancestral two pairs of limbs, which had evolved into large flippers. Plesiosaurs were related to the earlier Nothosauridae, that had a more crocodile-like body.

Plesiosaurs 101 | National Geographic

20 related questions found

Can plesiosaur walk land?

The fossil's abdominal cavity contains tiny bones—parts of a plesiosaur that hadn't been born by the time its mother died. ... "Scientists have long known that the bodies of plesiosaurs were not well suited to climbing onto land and laying eggs in a nest [like dinosaurs].

Can a plesiosaur breathe underwater?

Probably not. Plesiosaurs are found in shallow seas and even freshwater lakes. They were able to dive down, but they fed near the surface and had no need to go deep. Being reptiles, they had to breathe air, so there would have to be a good reason for them to leave the surface for a long time.

What is long neck dinosaur that lives in water?

Swiss paleontologists have solved a 242-million-year puzzle of the mysterious Tanystropheus dinosaur, whose extra-long neck has previously baffled experts. Advanced scanning techniques have shown the creature was adapted to the water rather than land.

What dinosaur has flippers and a long neck?

The Plesiosauroidea – the long-necked marine reptiles, epitomised by short tails, broad bodies, four flippers, a small head and an elongated neck.

What is the biggest plesiosaur?

Plesiosaurs. The longest known plesiosauroid was Elasmosaurus at 14 metres (46 feet) long.

Is a plesiosaur a dinosaur?

Marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs are not dinosaurs. Nor is Dimetrodon or other reptiles in the same group (previously called 'mammal-like reptiles' and now called synapsids).

What dinosaurs had 500 teeth?

This bizarre, long-necked dinosaur is characterized by its unusually broad, straight-edged muzzle tipped with more than 500 replaceable teeth. The original fossil skull of Nigersaurus is one of the first dinosaur skulls to be digitally reconstructed from CT scans.

What is the difference between an Elasmosaurus and a plesiosaur?

Plesiosaurs were distinguished by their long, narrow necks, small heads, and streamlined torsos. Elasmosaurus had the longest neck of any plesiosaur yet identified, about half the length of its entire body and supported by a whopping 71 vertebrae (no other plesiosaur had more than 60 vertebrae).

What killed the Elasmosaurus?

It died out with the dinosaurs and other prehistoric marine reptiles at the end of the Cretaceous.

How many teeth did the Elasmosaurus have?

Elasmosaurus can be distinguished by its six premaxillary teeth and 71 cervical vertebrae.

What did plesiosaurs do?

All plesiosaurs – so far as we know – were predators, the shapes of their teeth and jaws indicating that they preyed variously on swimming and benthic invertebrates, on fish, and also on other aquatic reptiles. ... There's no question that plesiosaurs were limb-propelled swimmers.

Why did dinosaurs go extinct?

Geological evidence indicates that dinosaurs became extinct at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene eras, about 66 million years ago, at a time when there was worldwide environmental change resulting from the impact of a large celestial object with the Earth and/or from vast volcanic eruptions.

Was the mosasaurus real?

Even at 40 meters long, this would make the Jurassic World Mosasaurus by far the largest animal to have ever lived. ... That said, the real Mosasaurus was indeed a large animal, with the biggest specimen known estimated to be around 17 meters or 56 feet long (Grigoriev, 2014).

What was the smallest plesiosaur?

Plesiosaurs were medium to large-sized marine reptiles. The smallest, around 1.8 meters (6 feet) long and 70 kilograms in weight, belong to the dubious genus "Plesiosaurus".

What kind of animal is a plesiosaur?

plesiosaur, any of a group of long-necked marine reptiles found as fossils from the Late Triassic Period into the Late Cretaceous Period (215 million to 80 million years ago). Plesiosaurs had a wide distribution in European seas and around the Pacific Ocean, including Australia, North America, and Asia.

How did plesiosaur swim?

The team reports that the mechanical plesiosaurs swam best when all four flippers were used for swimming. ... As the front flippers flapped, they created a vortex of water under the body. The back flippers would then flap between the whirlpools which better used the energy expended.

Can a plesiosaur swim?

Scientists have speculated over the swimming ability of plesiosaurs for decades. ... But other scientists posited that plesiosaurs sliced through the water like penguins, using an up-and-down flapping motion for their flippers. Sea turtles and sea lions also have four aquatic limbs, but they differ in shape and purpose.

How fast can a plesiosaur swim?

“Studies have shown an optimal swimming speed for plesiosaurs of about 0.4 m/s (1.44 km/h) to a maximum sustained speed of about 2.5 m/s (9 km/h) (like today's dolphins), depending on joint movement of the limbs and specific species.