In Depth Woolungasaurus was an elasmosaurid plesiosaur, the group that are noted for having particularly long necks typified by the type genus Elasmosaurus. Out of this large sub group of plesiosaurs, Hydralmosaurus from North America is thought to be one of the most similar to Woolungasaurus. Another elasmosaurid plesiosaur that Woolungasaurus would have shared its … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of the polycotylid plesiosaur Trinacomerum, T. lafquenianum was later re-described as a distinct genus of short necked elasmosaurid plesiosaur. Kawanectes is similar to the larger Vegasaurus. Because the bones in Kawanectes have complete fusion in them, we can tell that Kawanectes was fully grown at the time of … Read more
In Depth Today Elasmosaurus is one of the best known plesiosaurs in the world, and is the type genus for the Elasmosauridae. This group is noted for having particularly long necks, proportionately even longer than the more standard plesiosaurs. These long necks are composed of a large number of cervical vertebrae that in Elasmosaurus number … Read more
In Depth Vegasaurus is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived in the waters around what we now know as Antarctica during the late Cretaceous. It should be remembered at this stage that during the late Cretaceous Antarctica was closer to the equator than it is today, and the climate and water temperature would have … Read more
In Depth The first specimen of Styxosaurus was of a skull and twenty cervical (neck) vertebrae, but was initially described as a species of Cimoliasaurus (C. snowii) by Samuel Wendell Williston in 1890. Williston then shifted it over as a species of Elasmosaurus in 1906 as E. snowii. Later study by Samuel Paul Welles led … Read more
In Depth Wunyelfia is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived in waters around South America during the late Cretaceous. Further reading - Wunyelfia maulensis gen. et sp. nov., a new basal aristonectine (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of central Chile. - Cretaceous Research. 118: Article 104651. - Rodrigo A. Otero & Sergio Soto-Acu�a … Read more
In Depth Cardiocorax is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived during the latest stage of the Cretaceous. The fenestra (opening) between the coracoid bones is heart-shaped, and is the inspiration for the name which means ‘heart coracoid’. Further Reading - A new elasmosaurid from the early Maastrichtian of Angola and the implications of girdle … Read more
In Depth Hydrotherosaurus is comfortably placed within the Elasmosauridae, a group of plesiosaurs noted for having proportionately long necks. Also like these other genera, Hydrotherosaurus had long pointed teeth, but these seem to have projected more to the sides rather than just up and down. This however is quite a common feature seen in piscivorous … Read more
In Depth Discovered in New Zealand, Mauisaurus was for a long time credited as one of the largest plesiosaurs. However in more recent times there have been doubts about the validity of fossils attributed to the genus since these have come from so many different locations. Mauisaurus also displays the long sharp teeth often seen … Read more
In Depth Thalassomedon is regarded as a mid-sized elasmosaurid plesiosaur, especially when compared with larger genera like Mauisaurus. The distribution of Thalassomedon remains show that it swam in the Western Interior Seaway, a Cretaceous sea that divided North America into two halves. Thalassomedon is so far only known from the early stages of the Late … Read more