Plesiosauria

No picture of Plesiosauria was found. iDigBio and Smithsonian Open Access were searched and had none. Wikipedia has a picture filed under this name, but nothing tied it to Plesiosauria itself, so it was not used. Wikidata did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Plesiosauria, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
plesiosaurPBDB
Sits inside
SauropterygiaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Environment
marinePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 148 million years on record.

The record covers at least 221 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 227.5 Mya to 56 Mya.

Late Triassic — about 14 of 1166 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 108 of 1166 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 90 of 1166 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 199 of 1166 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 166 of 1166 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 588 of 1166 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 1 of 1166 occurrencesEocene — about 0 of 1166 occurrences231–225 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences225–219 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences219–213 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences213–207 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences207–201 Mya — about 15 occurrences201–195 Mya — about 39 occurrences195–189 Mya — about 16 occurrences189–183 Mya — about 23 occurrences183–177 Mya — about 20 occurrences177–171 Mya — about 13 occurrences171–166 Mya — about 12 occurrences166–160 Mya — about 82 occurrences160–154 Mya — about 49 occurrences154–148 Mya — about 86 occurrences148–142 Mya — about 58 occurrences142–136 Mya — about 20 occurrences136–130 Mya — about 18 occurrences130–124 Mya — about 18 occurrences124–118 Mya — about 30 occurrences118–112 Mya — about 21 occurrences112–106 Mya — about 18 occurrences106–100 Mya — about 41 occurrences100–94 Mya — about 77 occurrences94–88 Mya — about 89 occurrences88–82 Mya — about 72 occurrences82–76 Mya — about 92 occurrences76–70 Mya — about 119 occurrences70–64 Mya — about 135 occurrences64–59 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences59–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences221 Mya72.2 Mya231 Mya53 Mya

1,166 occurrences of Plesiosauria on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,166 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

249 formations

Kimmeridge Clay — 51.74°N, 1.31°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.58°N, 2.07°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.75°N, 1.18°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.25°N, 2.16°WKimmeridge Clay — 52.35°N, 0.22°EKimmeridge Clay — 51.76°N, 1.20°WKimmeridge Clay — 52.60°N, 0.38°EKimmeridge Clay — 52.40°N, 0.28°EKimmeridge Clay — 52.36°N, 0.15°EKimmeridge Clay — 52.39°N, 0.20°EKimmeridge Clay — 53.39°N, 0.34°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.61°N, 2.45°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.57°N, 1.80°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.63°N, 2.38°WKimmeridge Clay — 54.15°N, 0.23°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.41°N, 2.00°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.35°N, 1.99°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.63°N, 2.34°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.04°N, 2.28°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.80°N, 0.85°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.03°N, 2.21°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.92°N, 2.90°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.37°N, 2.17°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.54°N, 2.42°WOxford Clay — 52.54°N, 0.25°WOxford Clay — 50.62°N, 2.50°WOxford Clay — 52.55°N, 0.25°WOxford Clay — 51.83°N, 0.70°WOxford Clay — 51.75°N, 1.18°WOxford Clay — 52.07°N, 0.50°WOxford Clay — 52.17°N, 0.49°WOxford Clay — 52.40°N, 0.24°WOxford Clay — 52.22°N, 0.26°WOxford Clay — 51.78°N, 1.29°WOxford Clay — 50.75°N, 2.35°WOxford Clay — 51.50°N, 2.06°WOxford Clay — 52.55°N, 0.12°WOxford Clay — 52.56°N, 0.29°WConway — 42.85°S, 173.28°EConway — 43.05°S, 172.58°EConway — 42.58°S, 173.49°EConway — 43.06°S, 172.58°EConway — 42.85°S, 173.27°ELópez de Bertodano — 64.27°S, 56.72°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.31°S, 56.86°WLópez de Bertodano — 63.86°S, 57.57°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.28°S, 56.76°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.18°WNiobrara — 38.72°N, 100.70°WNiobrara — 39.03°N, 99.57°WNiobrara — 39.00°N, 99.48°WNiobrara — 38.70°N, 100.35°WNiobrara — 38.77°N, 100.57°WNiobrara — 38.78°N, 100.28°WNiobrara — 38.65°N, 100.48°WNiobrara — 38.75°N, 100.73°WNiobrara — 38.95°N, 101.16°WNiobrara — 38.93°N, 100.53°WNiobrara — 39.67°N, 98.21°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.49°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.32°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.59°WNiobrara — 43.41°N, 103.31°WAllen — 40.06°S, 66.80°WAllen — 40.02°S, 66.71°WAllen — 39.75°S, 66.75°WAllen — 39.47°S, 67.33°WAllen — 38.78°S, 68.08°WAllen — 40.03°S, 66.82°WAllen — 39.57°S, 66.98°WAllen — 40.73°S, 67.17°WAllen — 38.74°S, 68.06°WAllen — 39.91°S, 66.57°WDinosaur Park — 50.81°N, 111.32°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.41°WDinosaur Park — 50.83°N, 111.60°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.48°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.42°WDinosaur Park — 50.76°N, 111.49°WDinosaur Park — 50.68°N, 108.09°WPierre Shale — 38.90°N, 101.13°WPierre Shale — 44.19°N, 99.70°WPierre Shale — 43.41°N, 103.31°WPierre Shale — 43.40°N, 104.17°WPierre Shale — 43.01°N, 103.30°WPierre Shale — 39.01°N, 101.37°WPierre Shale — 43.63°N, 99.36°WPierre Shale — 43.31°N, 104.22°WPierre Shale — 39.00°N, 101.00°WPierre Shale — 38.88°N, 101.20°WPierre Shale — 42.70°N, 96.82°WPierre Shale — 43.24°N, 104.29°WPierre Shale — 43.19°N, 103.61°WPierre Shale — 43.58°N, 103.20°WPierre Shale — 43.25°N, 104.26°WLa Colonia — 42.95°S, 67.55°WLa Colonia — 42.92°S, 67.47°WLa Colonia — 42.96°S, 67.55°WLa Colonia — 42.83°S, 68.45°WTahora — 38.92°S, 176.83°ETahora — 39.00°S, 176.75°EBlue Lias — 51.13°N, 2.77°WBlue Lias — 52.24°N, 1.46°WBlue Lias — 51.13°N, 2.73°WBlue Lias — 52.75°N, 1.15°WBlue Lias — 51.14°N, 2.55°WBlue Lias — 51.18°N, 3.33°WBlue Lias — 52.36°N, 1.86°WBlue Lias — 52.03°N, 2.15°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.00°N, 98.92°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.58°N, 98.45°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.53°N, 97.66°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.91°N, 98.53°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.78°N, 99.22°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.16°N, 98.33°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.45°N, 97.53°WGreenhorn Limestone — 44.65°N, 103.58°WGriman Creek — 29.43°S, 147.98°EGriman Creek — 26.08°S, 148.54°EGriman Creek — 29.46°S, 147.97°EGriman Creek — 29.45°S, 147.78°EGriman Creek — 29.45°S, 147.76°EGriman Creek — 29.44°S, 147.73°EGriman Creek — 29.40°S, 147.91°ESnow Hill Island — 63.93°S, 57.85°WSnow Hill Island — 63.88°S, 57.59°WSnow Hill Island — 64.00°S, 57.51°WSnow Hill Island — 63.91°S, 57.46°WSundance — 44.57°N, 108.05°WSundance — 43.55°N, 107.77°WSundance — 44.60°N, 107.76°WSundance — 42.84°N, 107.65°WSundance — 43.41°N, 106.75°WSundance — 44.84°N, 111.73°WSundance — 41.64°N, 105.59°WCarlile Shale — 39.47°N, 98.95°WCarlile Shale — 38.39°N, 99.83°WCarlile Shale — 39.05°N, 99.02°WCarlile Shale — 39.38°N, 98.54°WCarlile Shale — 38.87°N, 99.18°WCarlile Shale — 38.91°N, 98.81°WCarlile Shale — 39.10°N, 99.04°WCarlile Shale — 38.88°N, 97.37°WCarlile Shale — 39.34°N, 98.47°WCarlile Shale — 39.19°N, 99.03°WCarlile Shale — 39.78°N, 98.15°WAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 15.92°EAgardhfjellet — 78.08°N, 18.83°EAgardhfjellet — 78.32°N, 16.18°EAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 15.83°EAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 16.05°EQuiriquina — 36.61°S, 73.06°WQuiriquina — 36.59°S, 72.98°WQuiriquina — 36.72°S, 73.12°WQuiriquina — 35.80°S, 72.57°WQuiriquina — 36.70°S, 72.97°WJagua — 22.62°N, 83.63°WJagua — 22.62°N, 83.71°WJagua — 22.38°N, 83.50°WJagua — 22.77°N, 83.50°WJagua — 22.75°N, 83.56°WAlum Shale — 54.55°N, 0.88°WAlum Shale — 54.48°N, 0.60°WWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.21°N, 0.16°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.20°N, 0.13°EWest Melbury Marly Chalk — 52.04°N, 0.15°WBückeberg — 52.26°N, 7.03°EPortland Stone — 51.55°N, 1.79°WPortland Stone — 50.57°N, 2.45°WPortland Stone — 50.60°N, 1.95°WAgrio — 37.42°S, 70.34°WAgrio — 38.05°S, 70.05°WAgrio — 38.04°S, 70.03°WAgrio — 38.38°S, 70.03°WAgrio — 37.58°S, 70.00°WAgrio — 38.20°S, 70.05°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Plesiosauria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 225 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 225 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Plesiosauria and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Plesiosauria and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,291 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 875 sites for Plesiosauria, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

542 references

Each of the 1,166 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 530 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Plesiosauria indet. · NHMUK:PAL:PV R 4205

No picture of Plesiosauria was found. iDigBio and Smithsonian Open Access were searched and had none.

Wikipedia has a picture filed under this name, but nothing tied it to Plesiosauria itself, so it was not used.

Wikidata did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Plesiosauria, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSauropterygia through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (de Blainville 1835)