This article might be considered a bit of a cheat, as it’s mostly lifted from a section of my recent paper describing the new genus Meyerasaurus, formerly ‘Thaumatosaurus’/Rhomaleosaurus victor (Smith and Vincent 2010). However, I think the topic is interesting and might be appreciated by a wider audience.
Several notable plesiosaur figures were released for 2010. Safari Ltd produced a Walking With Dinosaurs inspired Liopleurodon replica and a ‘toob’ containing an array of small marine reptiles and other prehistoric marine critters. Papo produced an unusual Plesiosaurus.
The TCD specimen of the plesiosaur Attenborosaurus has spent the last few weeks being prepared and painted for eventual display in the geology museum. The plesiosaur was renamed in 1993 to honour Sir David Attenborough, who was recently awarded an honorary degree from TCD; we therefore took the fine opportunity to combine his visit with the unveiling of the newly prepared and painted specimen.