Plesiosauroidea

Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous marine reptiles. They have the snake-like longest neck to body ratio of any reptile. Plesiosauroids are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. After their discovery, some plesiosauroids were said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell.

Plesiosauroidea

Ryan Somma · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PlesiosauriaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Plesiosauria

Time the record covers

At least 138 million years on record.

The record covers at least 211.18 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 227.3 Mya to 56 Mya.

Late Triassic — about 7 of 607 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 44 of 607 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 33 of 607 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 77 of 607 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 71 of 607 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 374 of 607 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 1 of 607 occurrencesEocene — about 0 of 607 occurrences231–225 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences225–219 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences219–213 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences213–207 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences207–201 Mya — about 7 occurrences201–195 Mya — about 12 occurrences195–189 Mya — about 8 occurrences189–183 Mya — about 12 occurrences183–177 Mya — about 8 occurrences177–171 Mya — about 5 occurrences171–165 Mya — about 4 occurrences165–159 Mya — about 33 occurrences159–154 Mya — about 16 occurrences154–148 Mya — about 32 occurrences148–142 Mya — about 25 occurrences142–136 Mya — about 11 occurrences136–130 Mya — about 12 occurrences130–124 Mya — about 7 occurrences124–118 Mya — about 9 occurrences118–112 Mya — about 9 occurrences112–106 Mya — about 8 occurrences106–100 Mya — about 16 occurrences100–94 Mya — about 26 occurrences94–88 Mya — about 42 occurrences88–82 Mya — about 53 occurrences82–76 Mya — about 61 occurrences76–70 Mya — about 86 occurrences70–64 Mya — about 105 occurrences64–59 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences59–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences211.18 Mya72.2 Mya231 Mya53 Mya

607 occurrences of Plesiosauroidea 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

607 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

153 formations

Conway — 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°EKimmeridge Clay — 51.74°N, 1.31°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.58°N, 2.07°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.75°N, 1.18°WKimmeridge Clay — 52.60°N, 0.38°EKimmeridge Clay — 51.75°N, 1.20°WKimmeridge Clay — 52.40°N, 0.28°EKimmeridge Clay — 52.36°N, 0.15°EKimmeridge Clay — 52.39°N, 0.20°EKimmeridge Clay — 50.63°N, 2.38°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.25°N, 2.16°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.61°N, 2.45°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.56°N, 1.78°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 — 52.17°N, 0.49°WOxford Clay — 52.40°N, 0.24°WOxford Clay — 51.78°N, 1.29°WOxford Clay — 51.50°N, 2.06°WOxford Clay — 52.56°N, 0.29°WLópez 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°WPierre Shale — 38.90°N, 101.13°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 — 43.25°N, 104.26°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.18°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°WTahora — 38.92°S, 176.83°ETahora — 39.00°S, 176.75°EAllen — 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°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°WSnow Hill Island — 63.93°S, 57.85°WSnow Hill Island — 63.88°S, 57.59°WSnow Hill Island — 64.00°S, 57.51°WSundance — 44.57°N, 108.05°WSundance — 43.55°N, 107.77°WSundance — 44.60°N, 107.76°WSundance — 43.41°N, 106.75°WSundance — 44.84°N, 111.73°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°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°WQuiriquina — 36.61°S, 73.06°WQuiriquina — 36.59°S, 72.98°WQuiriquina — 36.72°S, 73.12°WQuiriquina — 35.80°S, 72.57°WAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 15.92°EAgardhfjellet — 78.08°N, 18.83°EAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 15.83°EAgardhfjellet — 78.34°N, 16.05°EDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.41°WDinosaur Park — 50.83°N, 111.60°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.42°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.76°N, 111.49°WDinosaur Park — 50.68°N, 108.09°WWadhurst Clay — 50.90°N, 0.51°EWadhurst Clay — 50.86°N, 0.44°EWadhurst Clay — 50.85°N, 0.57°EWadhurst Clay — 51.15°N, 0.40°EAgrio — 37.42°S, 70.34°WAgrio — 38.05°S, 70.05°WAgrio — 38.04°S, 70.03°WAgrio — 38.38°S, 70.03°WAgrio — 38.20°S, 70.05°WBulldog Shale — 30.45°S, 137.17°EBulldog Shale — 29.01°S, 134.67°EBulldog Shale — 29.30°S, 137.42°EBulldog Shale — 27.85°S, 135.92°EBulldog Shale — 30.45°S, 137.15°ETropic Shale — 37.29°N, 112.69°WTropic Shale — 37.08°N, 111.66°WTropic Shale — 37.00°N, 111.67°WMoreno — 36.50°N, 120.69°WMoreno — 36.72°N, 120.72°WAlum Shale — 54.48°N, 0.60°WPortland Stone — 51.55°N, 1.79°WPortland Stone — 50.57°N, 2.45°WSanta Marta — 63.83°S, 57.95°WSanta Marta — 63.88°S, 57.91°WSanta Marta — 63.82°S, 57.88°WSanta Marta — 63.90°S, 57.85°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°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Plesiosauroidea has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 129 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 124 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Plesiosauroidea and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

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

Found in the same rock

1,090 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 510 sites for Plesiosauroidea, 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

330 references

Each of the 607 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. 318 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

Picture of Plesiosauroidea

Credit
Ryan Somma
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Plesiosauroidea was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Keep going

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

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Welles 1943