In Depth Makhaira is a genus of pliosaur that lived in waters that once submerged parts of Russia during the early Cretaceous. Due to lack of fossil material, little is known about the overall details of Makhaira. But these remains seem to have come from a small to medium sized pliosaur. The known teeth of … Read more
In Depth Although the body is still unknown, Thililua is considered to be a polycotylid plesiosaur. Named after the genus Polycotylus, polycotylids had plesiosaur shaped bodies, but proportionately shorter necks and longer jaws, with probably the most famous example of this group being Dolichorhynchops. Although most polycotylid fossils are known from North America, the presence … Read more
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 Fossils pertaining to Tatenectes were originally assigned as a species of Cimoliasaurus (C. laramiensis) by W. C. Knight in 1900. Then in 1912 they were moved over to Tricliedus (as T. laramiensis) by Mehl. Then in 2003 fossils pertaining to this species were established as a new genus by O’Keefe and Wahl. However … Read more
In Depth Ophthalmothule is a genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur known to have lived towards the end of the Jurassic, possibly early Cretaceous. Ophthalmothule is noted to have very large eye sockets, something which obviously suggests the presence of very large eyes. Large eyes would be able to trap more light, even at the lower murkier … 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 Despite its long history and broad geographic range, Simolestes surprisingly remains a little known pliosaur, certainly no way near as famous as the often over exaggerated Liopleurodon. Simolestes does not have the best fossil representation, but comparison to other pliosaurs has yielded estimates of up to six meters long for the living animal. … 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 Maresaurus is one of the rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs, a group that seem to be between the long necked plesiosaurs and short necked pliosaurs in form. Additionally the fact that Maresaurus comes from South America combined with the presence of Yuzhoupliosaurus in China, produces a picture of the rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs having a global distribution. Other … Read more