Elasmosauridae
Encyclopedia
Elasmosauridae was the family
of plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Late Triassic
to the end of the Cretaceous
. They had a diet of fish
and shelless cephalopods.
. Their necks were the longest of all the plesiosaurs, with anywhere between 32 to 71 cervical vertebrae
They weighed up to several tons.
Elasmosauridae was erected by Cope
in 1869, and anchored on the genus Elasmosaurus
.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of plesiosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and survived from the Late Triassic
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is in the geologic timescale the third and final of three epochs of the Triassic period. The corresponding series is known as the Upper Triassic. In the past it was sometimes called the Keuper, after a German lithostratigraphic group that has a roughly corresponding age...
to the end of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. They had a diet of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and shelless cephalopods.
Size
The earliest elasmosaurids were small, about 3 m (9.8 ft). At the end of the Cretaceous, elasmosaurids grew as large as 14 m (45.9 ft), such as ElasmosaurusElasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
. Their necks were the longest of all the plesiosaurs, with anywhere between 32 to 71 cervical vertebrae
Cervical vertebrae
In vertebrates, cervical vertebrae are those vertebrae immediately inferior to the skull.Thoracic vertebrae in all mammalian species are defined as those vertebrae that also carry a pair of ribs, and lie caudal to the cervical vertebrae. Further caudally follow the lumbar vertebrae, which also...
They weighed up to several tons.
Taxonomy
The familyFamily (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Elasmosauridae was erected by Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
in 1869, and anchored on the genus Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
.
- Family Elasmosauridae
- AlexeyisaurusAlexeyisaurusAlexeyisaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur known from the upper Triassic of Wilczek Formation, Wilczek Land, of Franz Josef Land, Russia. It was first named by A. G. Sennikov and M. S. Arkhangelsky in 2010 and the type species is Alexeyisaurus karnoushenkoi....
- AphrosaurusAphrosaurusAphrosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Mesozoic. The type species is Aphrosaurus furlongi, named by Welles in 1943. Aphrosaurus furlongi was discovered in the Panoche Hills of Fresno County, California in 1939 by rancher Frank C...
- AristonectesAristonectesAristonectes is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now South America and Antarctica...
- CallawayasaurusCallawayasaurusCallawayasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the family Elasmosauridae. When the first Callawayasaurus fossil was first discovered by Samuel Paul Welles in 1962, he described it as Alzadasaurus colombiensis before it was moved into its current genus by Kenneth Carpenter in...
- ElasmosaurusElasmosaurusElasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
- EromangasaurusEromangasaurusEromangasaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from northern Queensland of Australia.-Description:Eromangasaurus is known from the holotype QM F11050, a nearly complete but badly crushed skull and mandible...
- FresnosaurusFresnosaurusFresnosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now California. The type species is Fresnosaurus drescheri, first described by Welles in 1943. The generic name Fresnosaurus honors Fresno County, while the specific name honors Arthur Drescher.Fresnosaurus was...
- FutabasaurusFutabasaurusFutabasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Fukushima, Japan. Described and named in 2006, it was assigned to the family Elasmosauridae. The length was about 7 m, and the weight was about 3~4 tons. Futabasaurus is the first elasmosaurid found in Japan. The type...
- HydralmosaurusHydralmosaurusHydralmosaurus is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur. It is known from fossils discovered in Late Cretaceous rocks of Nebraska and Wyoming. Hydralmosaurus was coined as a replacement name for "Elasmosaurus" serpentinus in 1943 by Samuel Paul Welles....
- HydrotherosaurusHydrotherosaurusHydrotherosaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Fresno County, California, measuring up to 13 m in length. The species H. alexandrae was named for its discoverer, Annie Montague Alexander by Samuel Paul Welles.-References:* Welles, S. P. 1943...
- KaiwhekeaKaiwhekeaKaiwhekea is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now New Zealand. The type species, Kaiwhekea katiki, was first described by Arthur Cruickshank and Ewan Fordyce in 2002. Kaiwhekea was approximately 7 meters long and lived around 69-70 million years ago...
- LibonectesLibonectesLibonectes is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur order. It is known from a single fossil specimen found in the Britton Formation of Texas, dated to the lower Turonian stage of the late Cretaceous period.The animal was very similar to the related Thalassomedon,...
- MauisaurusMauisaurusMauisaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period around 80 to 69 million years ago in what is now New Zealand. It was the largest plesiosaur, and perhaps the largest marine reptile in New Zealand waters at the time. Mauisaurus haasti is the only known species of the...
- MorenosaurusMorenosaurusMorenosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Cretaceous of what is now California. The type species is Morenosaurus stocki, first named by Samuel Welles in 1943, in honor of Dr. Chester Stock. The species was found by Robert Wallace and Arthur Drescher in the Panoche Hills region of...
- StyxosaurusStyxosaurusStyxosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae. Styxosaurus lived during the Santonian and Campanian age of the Cretaceous period.-Etymology:...
- TerminonatatorTerminonatatorTerminonatator is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is known from a skull and partial skeleton from a young adult, found in the Campanian-age Bearpaw Formation near Notukeu Creek in Ponteix...
- ThalassomedonThalassomedonThalassomedon is a genus of plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943. Greek, thalassa, "sea" and Greek, medon, "lord, ruler": Sea lord.-Introduction:...
- TuarangisaurusTuarangisaurusTuarangisaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from New Zealand. Tuarangisaurus is known from the holotype NZGS CD425, a nearly complete skull and mandible and from NZGS CD426, nine anterior-most cervical vertebrae...
- WapuskanectesWapuskanectesWapuskanectes is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from the Alberta of Canada.-Description:Wapuskanectes is known from the holotype TMP 98.49.02, articulated partial postcranial skeleton, including an almost complete pectoral girdle. It was collected in the western side of the Syncrude...
- ZarafasauraZarafasauraZarafasaura is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco.-Description:Zarafasaura is known from the holotype OCP-DEK/GE 315, an articulated incomplete dorsoventrally crushed skull and mandible and from the paratype OCP-DEK/GE 456, a complete mandible...
- Alexeyisaurus
- DubiousNomen dubiumIn zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...
Elasmosaurids- CimoliasaurusCimoliasaurusCimoliasaurus was a plesiosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous in New Jersey, New Zealand, England, and France. It grew from 13 to 25 ft long.- References :...
- GoniosaurusGoniosaurusGoniosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur....
- OgmodirusOgmodirusOgmodirus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Cretaceous. It may be member of the Elasmosauridae, a group of marine animals related to Elasmosaurus, but the condition of the fossils discovered to date means the genus is dubious. The type species,...
- OrophosaurusOrophosaurusOrophosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur....
- PiptomerusPiptomerusPiptomerus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur....
- WoolungasaurusWoolungasaurusWoolungasaurus glendowerensis was a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile, of the family Elasmosauridae...
- Cimoliasaurus