How It Works-Book Of Dinosaurs

Plesiosaurs were part of marine

ecolog y from the late Triassic period

to the end of the Cretaceous period

and were powerful swimmers that could strike

fast-moving prey with efficiency. Plesiosaurs

t ypically had a stock y torso, four large flippers,

a long neck and a small skull with small,

pointed teeth and one such example was the

Plesiosaurus, which inhabited the shallow seas

of Europe during the early Jurassic period.

Measuring any where between 3-5 meters in

length, the Plesiosaurus was one of the ver y

first prehistoric reptiles to be discovered and

the fossil remains pointed ver y much towards a

powerful creature that was build to cope with

its precise fish-catching feeding habits. With a

for ward burst of the flippers on one side of its

body coupled with back wards thrust of the

flippers on the other side could turn the

Plesiosaurus on a sixpence, its relatively weak,

stumpy tail acting as a rudder to steer it. It was

such agilit y that the helped the plesiosaurs

dominate the ecosystem as no unsuspecting

fish would have been able to escape it.

DINOSAURS

Marine reptiles

Marine reptiles

Discover the creatures that ruled and dominated the prehistoric waters

These powerful reptiles were ever y inch the aquatic version of a dinosaur

Plesiosaurs

Pliosaurs were large carnivorous marine

reptiles that mainly inhabited the waters

around Europe in the Jurassic and

Cretaceous periods. Their diet consisted of fish,

sea-based dinosaurs and other marine reptiles.

The two most well known varieties of pliosaur

are the Kronosaurus and the Liopleurodon. The

Kronosaurus was known to have stalked the seas

around Australia and South America in the late

Cretaceous period and measured up to nine

meters (30ft) in length. Liopleurodons measured a

colossal 12 meters (39ft) in length. Resembling a

whale, it was a highly manoeuvrable creature

that was capable of swimming at all depths.

These marine reptiles were built to hunt deep

Pliosaurs

Teeth

Teeth were small and

pointed, all the better for

grasping on to wriggling

fish and squid

Tail

Liopleurodon’s tail was

rather short and probably

not very useful for rudder-

like steering

Neck

The Plesiosaur’s long

neck had great

manoeuvrability for

catching darting fish

Flippers

Large fore and hind

flippers were integral to

underwater propulsion

Teeth

Liopleurodon teeth could

reach up to 10cm (4in) in

length. That’s the size of a

Swiss Army knife

Body

Despite its massive size

and bulk, Liopleuodon

was quite streamlined for

underwater hunting

Flippers

Four large flippers helped

Liopluerodon (one of the

most well known

Pliosaurs) cruise along

Pliosaur

Length: 10-12m (32-48ft)

Weight: 45,000kg (99,000lb)

Diet: Carnivore

Discovered: Dorset, UK

The statistics...

Plesiosaur

Length: 4.5m (15ft)

Weight: 90kg (200lb)

Diet: Carnivore

Discovered: Dorset, UK

The statistics...