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Contact

About the author
Email: [email protected]
Follow: @adamstuartsmith

Higher taxa

  • Sauropterygia
  • Eosauropterygia
  • Eusauropterygia
  • Pachypleurosauria
  • Nothosauria
  • Pistosauroidea
  • Pistosauria
  • Plesiosauria
  • Pliosauroidea
  • Plesiosauroidea

Families

  • Aristonectidae
  • Brachauchenidae
  • Cimoliasauridae
  • Cryptoclididae
  • Elasmosauridae
  • Leptocleididae
  • Microcleididae
  • Plesiosauridae
  • Pliosauridae
  • Polycotylidae
  • Rhomaleosauridae

Genera

The genera section is under construction, active pages are indicated in bold

  • A
  • Albertonectes
  • Alexeyisaurus
  • Alzadosaurus
  • Anningasaura
  • Aphrosaurus
  • 'Apractocleidus'
  • Archaeonectrus
  • Aristonectes
  • Attenborosaurus
  • Atychodracon
  • Augustasaurus
  • Avalonnectes
  • B
  • Bathyspondylus
  • Bishanopliosaurus
  • Bobosaurus
  • Borealonectes
  • Brachauchenius
  • Brancasaurus
  • C
  • Callawayasaurus
  • 'Cimoliasaurus'
  • Colymbosaurus
  • Cryptoclidus
  • D
  • Dolichorhynchops
  • E
  • Edgarosaurus
  • Elasmosaurus
  • Eoplesiosaurus
  • Eopolycotylus
  • Eretmosaurus
  • Eromangasaurus
  • Eurycleidus
  • F
  • Fresnosaurus
  • Futabasaurus
  • G
  • Gallardosaurus
  • Georgiasaurus
  • H
  • Hauffiosaurus
  • Hydralmosaurus
  • Hydrorion
  • Hydrotherosaurus
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • Kaiwhekea
  • Kimmerosaurus
  • Kronosaurus
  • L
  • Leptocleidus
  • Leurospondylus
  • Libonectes
  • Liopleurodon
  • Lusonectes
  • M
  • Macroplata
  • Manemergus
  • Maresaurus
  • Marmornectes
  • Mauisaurus
  • Megalneusaurus
  • Meyerasaurus
  • Microcleidus
  • Morenosaurus
  • 'Morturneria'
  • Muraenosaurus
  • N
  • Nichollssaura
  • O
  • Occitanosaurus
  • 'Ogmodirus'
  • Opallionectes
  • P
  • Pachycostasaurus
  • Pahasapasaurus
  • Palmulasaurus
  • Pantosaurus
  • Peloneustes
  • Pistosaurus
  • Plesiopleurodon
  • Plesiopterys
  • Plesiosaurus
  • Pliosaurus
  • Polycotylus
  • Polyptychodon
  • Q
  • R
  • Rhomaleosaurus
  • S
  • Seeleyosaurus
  • Scanisaurus
  • Simolestes
  • Sthenarosaurus
  • Stratesaurus
  • 'Stretosaurus'
  • Strongylokrotaphus
  • Styxosaurus
  • Sulcusuchus
  • T
  • Tatenectes
  • Terminonatator
  • Thalassiodracon
  • Thalassomedon
  • 'Thaumatosaurus'
  • Thililua
  • Trememesacleis'
  • Tricleidus
  • Trinacromerum
  • Tuarangisaurus
  • U
  • Umoonasaurus
  • V
  • Vinialesaurus
  • W
  • Wapuskanectes
  • Westphaliasaurus
  • Woolungasaurus
  • X
  • Y
  • Yuzhoupliosaurus
  • Z
  • Zarafasaura

Neck function

There have been many differing interpretations of plesiosaur neck posture and function. Indeed, the function of the long plesiosaur neck is still controversial and unresolved today (Martill et al. 1994). It likely served as a mechanism for approaching prey, such as a school of fish, without being detected (Massare, 1988).

A selection of historical plesiosaur restorations (from Zarnik, 1925)

Contrary to early work (Zarnik, 1925, see figure below), the plesiosaur neck did not have the flexibility required to coil up and strike prey in the manner of some snakes and pleurodiran turtles (Pough et al. 1996). Tall neural spines inhibited vertical (up and down) flexibility and large processes on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the vertebrae (prezygapophyses and postzygapophyses) inhibited horizontal (side to side) flexibility. The neck was therefore actually rather inflexible so plesiosaurs could also not adopt the often depicted swan-like pose (Storrs, 1993).

Overestimated degree neck flexibility in Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris as proposed by Zarnik (1925). The spacing between successive vertebrae, and therefore the degree of flexibility, were less than reconstructed here.

Popular pages

Liopleurodon

Plesiosaurus

Locomotion

Living plesiosaurs?

Crystal Palace plesiosaurs

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Further reading

Playtime


The skeletons in the site header are (from left to right): Kronosaurus (in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge), Thalassomedon (in the American Museum of Natural History, New York), Cryptoclidus (In the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow), Rhomaleosaurus (in the Natural History Museum, London), Dolichorhynchops (in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Washington) and Thalassiodracon (in the Natural History Museum, London).

Golden Trilobite winner 2013

©2017 Copyright Adam S. Smith. This site opened in June 2001. Last updated August 2017.