Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus

Plesiosaurus is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. Measuring around 3.5 m (11 ft) long, it is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. Other species once assigned to this genus, including P. brachypterygius, P. guilielmiimperatoris, and P. tournemirensis have been reassigned to new genera, such as Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus and Microcleidus.

Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus

the paleobear · CC BY 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
PlesiosaurusPBDB
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 most 18 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 201.4 Mya and 184.2 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Late Triassic — about 0 of 5 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 5 of 5 occurrencesEarly Jurassic202–201 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences201–201 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences201–200 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences200–199 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences199–199 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences199–198 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences198–198 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences198–197 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences197–196 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences196–196 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences196–195 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences195–195 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences195–194 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences194–193 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences193–193 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences193–192 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences192–192 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences192–191 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences191–190 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences190–190 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences190–189 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences189–189 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences189–188 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences188–187 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences187–187 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences187–186 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences186–186 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences186–185 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences185–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences201.9 Mya183.7 Mya

5 occurrences of Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus on record, most of them in the Early Jurassic. 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

5 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

1 formation

Charmouth Mudstone — 50.73°N, 2.94°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus and its relatives

Early Jurassic

Where Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

10 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 4 sites for Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

5 references

Each of the 5 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. 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 content3

Picture of Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus

Credit
the paleobear
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus · NHMUK:PAL:PV OR 22656

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
Modbuff
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itPlesiosaurus through timeFormations of the Early JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Conybeare 1824