#sauropterygian

[alex-fictus]

Henodus isn’t what you think they are!

Looking at them, they are spectacularly turtle-like, but they’re actually a Sauropterygian! This means they’re a closer relative to Plesiosaurs than to Testudine Turtles!

For a true turtle, look for Archelon, the mega turtle of the Cretaceous!

Sticker here || Wallpaper here!

[he-who-needs-to-be-silenced]

Results from todays flocking paleostream

2: This pathetic little beast is a baby atopodentatus, which actually couldn’t bend their elbows, and after that I made this

To continu the info, atopodentatus was a weird basal sauropterygian that had a flat mouth that was originally reconstructed as a strange zipper thingy which is because the holotype was squeeshed sideways when fossiling. We think it might have used its mouth to scrape algae of rocks like a marine iguana or to filter shit out of mud like morturneria we drew right before

[saritawolff]

Patreon request for rome.and.stuff (Instagram), and my first plesiosaur (well, first since I was like… 10)

Pliosaurus funkei!

Pliosaurs were a family of plesiosaurs that eventually lost their stereotypical long-necked, small-headed body plan. Resembling the mosasaurs that would come much later, pliosaurs had short necks with large, strong jaws, and fed on fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles. The type genus, Pliosaurus, contains at least 6 species. The first and type species, P. brachydeirus, was described and named by Sir Richard Owen in 1841.

Between 2004 and 2012, a new species of Pliosaurus was in the process of being uncovered. Before it was formally described or even named, news of this giant sea monster escaped into the general media and it was dubbed “Predator X”.

This Predator X prompted a media frenzy… there were articles estimating its size based on the fragments found so far, a 2009 television special on the History channel, and a segment in the 2011 BBC documentary series “Planet Dinosaur.”

Predator X was reportedly the “most fearsome animal ever to swim in the oceans!”

When Pliosaurus funkei was finally formally described and named in 2012, it was found to be a bit smaller than the giant 15 meter long estimate being thrown around. However, it was still a very large animal, around 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long with a 2.0–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 ft) long skull. It also had very long flippers, probably to aid in maneuverability and speed. Analysis of Pliosaurus funkei’s skeleton show that it likely used its front flippers to cruise, only using its back flippers for quick bursts of speed when pursuing prey. Analysis of its brain case shows that its brain was proportional to that of a modern great white shark. So while it didn’t quite beat the Late Cretaceous 12–15.8 meter (39–52 ft) long mosasaur Tylosaurus, the Early Miocene to Late Pliocene 10.5-20.3 meter (34-67 ft) long shark Otodus megalodon, or even the modern day 11-16 meter (36-52 ft) long Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm Whale), it was still no doubt the apex predator of its time and environment.

Pliosaurus funkei lived in the last era of the Late Jurassic in the icy waters of Norway. Found in the Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation, it would have lived in a cold, shallow sea rife with methane seeps. These methane seeps supported a high amount of diversity, and the Slottsmøya was teeming with ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, tubeworms, echinoderms, cold water sponges, and more. Many icthyosaurs and plesiosaurs would have enjoyed feeding on the plentiful invertebrates here, as well as each other. Pliosaurus funkei would have likely fed on other plesiosaurs like Colymbosaurus, Djupedalia, Ophthalmothule, and Spitrasaurus, as well as icthyosaurs like Cryopterygius, Undorosaurus, Arthropterygius, Nannopterygius, and Brachypterygius.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

How closely related are marine reptiles like plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs to dinosaurs? I know mosasaurs are more related to lizards but wasn’t sure about the other famous marine reptiles.

I know they’re not dinosaurs obviously but I was curious if it was a case of close relatives like pterosaurs. They don’t seem very close so I’m assuming not very related at all, and they’re just grouped in since they’re contemporary.

Soooo we don't know *how* close they are because their evolutionary relationships are in flux, but they aren't super close. Ichthyosaurs may not even be in crown-reptiles - ie, they aren't more closely related to dinosaurs or crocs or lizards, but equally closely related to all of them, falling outside the group that contains living reptiles. Or they're grouped with the other marine reptiles, called Sauropterygians. Sauropterygians includes plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, and a bunch of Triassic Weirdos. For a while, we thought they were closer to living turtles than anything else - so in Pan-Testudines. But that's come into question, especially now that we know turtles are part of the crocodile-bird tree (Archosauromorphs) than the lizard-snake tree. However, recent studies have indicated they may be Archosauromorphs.

So the short version of all that is: they may be closer to dinosaurs than to lizards, but they also might just be equally closely related to all living reptiles. Or maybe they're closer to turtles than to lizards or dinosaurs. Who knows. Science is fun!

[mariolanzas]

NOTHOSAURUS

One of the many animals featured on my new video dedicated to Sauropterygians

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[ofowlsdinosaursanddragons]

Wanted to do my own take on Scylla for the "Epic: The Musical"! For her design, I took inspiration from plesiosaurs like rhomaleosaurus along with the walking with dinosaurs’ Liopleurodon for an extra reference with both being massive sauropterygians.

[dragonthunders01]

Something that occurred to me on a discussion regarding bowhead whales and sauropterygians, it came to my mind to me to create the ultimate Aristonectid descendant, these pull out the extreme of filter feeding adaptation of their group turning their lower jaw into a specialized large set of baleen-like structures growing out of the gum, with a huge sloth that holds the keel of the palate so it push the water while it catch the food; they extremely developed their heads, coming out of a short necked and bigger head trend that started in the Paleogene, their heads now forms half of the body length, the upper teeth have become useless for feeding so they preserved them as a sort of defense helping them while ramming towards adversaries.

[mousegirlheart]

Plesiosaurs are not technically dinosaurs, but classified as a sauropterygian (flippered lizard) reptile, a type of non-saurian diapsid like ichthyosaurs and thalattosaurs. The reason why I know this is because my favorite ancient extinct reptile is the Liopleurodon ferox which is a type of pliosaurid (short-necked) plesiosaur, and my second favorite is the Stelladens mysteriosus, a mosasaur which is not related to plesiosaurs they are squamates like snakes.

my life is a lie...

[sinosauropteryx--prima]

Life in the Early Triassic

(first row: Sclerosaurus, Lystrosaurus; second row: Hupehsuchus, Triadobatrachus, Cartorhynchus; thrid row: Rebellatrix, Atopodentatus; fourth row: Aphaneramma, Erythrosuchus)

Lystrosaurus - Julio Lacerda

Erythrosuchus - Mark Witton

Rebellatrix - Michael Skrepnick

Aphaneramma - Gabriel Ugueto

Cartorhynchus, Hupehsuchus, Atopodentatus - Nobu Tamura

Triadobatrachus - Alexey Malitskiy

Sclerosaurus - Wikimedia

We‘ve reached the Triassic period and with it the Mesozoic Era, the Age of Reptiles! Right now (about 250 million years ago), the reptiles are not dominating yet - in fact no one really was doing too well, as the Early Triassic was mostly a recovery period with low diversity after the most devastating mass extinction of all time, The Great Dying, at the end of the Permian.

The one exception to this is Lystrosaurus. The pig-sized herbivores somehow made it through the mass extinction mostly unscathed and in a now barren world they re-diversified, took up empty niches and became the most common vertebrate in many areas. It is not entirely clear why they survived. Maybe it was hibernation or burrowing that gave them some kind of protection from the worst parts of The Great Dying, maybe they were just lucky. Whatever it was, these prehistoric cockroaches marked one of the last big hurrahs of the synapsids (our own linage), before they went into hiding and lived their lifes as rodent size critters in the shadows of the reptiles for the following 200 million years or so.

The synapsids were the stars of the Permian, but only three groups of them made it into the Triassic: The carnivorous therocephalians and the herbivorous dicynodonts like Lystrosaurus with bulky bodies, mostly toothless beaks and tusk-like canines. They both went extinct during the Triassic. A third group, the cynodonts, survived much longer and will eventually include all modern mammals, from the tiniest bats to the biggest whales. But right now all of that is just some distant future.

Right now, at the beginning of the Triassic, a lot of other groups hurry to fill empty spaces. Several groups of reptiles decided that, after their ancestors once spent a lot of time and effort to evolve a terrestrial lifestyle, they want to return to the oceans. This included early cousins of the ichthyosaurs (those dolphin-shaped marine reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs) like Cartorhynchus and very basal sauropterygians. The most famous member of that group are the Loch-Ness-Monster-looking plesiosaurs, but one early member was the strange Atopodentatus. They possibly used their weird mouths to eat algae, making them one of the earliest herbivorous marine reptiles.

On land, the most interesting development might be the rise of the archosaurs and their close relatives. Over the span of the Mesozoic, the age of reptiles, they became the dominate group of life including many fan-favorites: The giant dinosaurs, the flying pterosaurs, the birds we have today and the wide variety of crocs, both past and present. At the beginning of the Triassic, they are just starting out, but 5 m long predators like the big-headed Erythrosuchus (although they are technically not quite archosaurs), already give a glimpse into their future.

[skibidiartzz5]

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. 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 Occitanosaurus

[Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus]

[moon-snailsss]

Plesiosaur

| the name plesiosaur is Greek for “almost lizard”

Lived 208.5 to 66 million years ago

They are sauropterygian (si-ro-pto-raey-gian) reptiles basically meaning they are aquatic reptiles

They lived during the early Jurassic period and when extinct during the Cretaceous period

They were carnivorous (they ate meat) mostly fish

Plesiosaurs had a bite force of 33 thousand psi (pound force per square inch)their neck could grow up to 7 meters (22 feet) long

[alex-fictus]

Plesiosaurus! Somehow this is the only plesiosaur I have in my shop, that will be updating soon! I have sketches for Nyxosaurus, Elasmosaurus, and Lindwurmia-- any you think I should add?

I also might redo this design, I've updated it since but I didn't draw the head correctly :( Get this sticker here!

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

March Madness Day 2!

Mosasaurus

Or Elasmosaurus

So, why aren't yhese guys considered dinosaurs? Here's a few reasons:

1.) Both are marine organisms. Dinosaurs (at least non-avian) are terrestrial.

2.) Mosasaurus is a aquamate. Basically, a giant sea lizard.

Dinosaurs are archosaurs.

Elasmosaurus is a sauropterygian like Nothosaurus.

Which one do you want to keep in the competition? REBLOG for MOSASAURUS.

LIKE for ELASMOSAURUS.

Voting open until tier 2 begins (March 16).

[albertonykus]

Curated List of My Tumblr Posts on Paleontology, Classification, Doraemon, etc.

I don’t currently take asks on this blog, but over the years I’ve accumulated a good amount of material on here that I essentially haven’t posted anywhere else. Given that finding old posts on Tumblr can be a difficult and arduous task, I’ve decided to assemble a curated selection of links to my posts that I think are of particular interest (whether on a general or personal level). These are often posts that have been especially popular, posts that I especially enjoyed writing, or both. Yes, I’m including the Doraemon reviews. 😛 For ease of access, I have also replicated this list on a page on this blog, which I will try to keep updated as I deem necessary.

Paleontology Resources

What are some good introductory resources for dinosaur paleontology?

What are some good YouTube channels about paleontology? (needs updating)

Some ways to access paywalled scientific papers (and why I won’t repost published phylogenetic figures on @new-dinosaurs)

What should one major in college to get into paleontology?

How do I make phylogenetic diagrams?

How to subscribe to the Dinosaur Mailing List

Specific Dinosaur Questions

How flexible are dinosaur tails?

What types of dinosaurs have feathers?

Wasn’t there a study showing that feathers were not an ancestral trait of dinosaurs?

How reliable are melanosomes for reconstructing the colors of extinct dinosaurs?

Why does paleoart of feathered dinosaurs tend to show the tip of snout unfeathered?

Is it true that non-avian dinosaurs couldn’t roar?

Which dinosaurian herbivores are foregut fermenters and which ones are hindgut fermenters?

When did dinosaurs evolve hollow bones?

Could sauropods swim?

Can any theropods pronate their hands? (And how about other reptiles?)

Were giant maniraptoriforms likely to have been featherless?

Did flightless non-avialan pennaraptorans have feather barbules?

Would Microraptor and Anchiornis have had trouble walking due to their large hindlimb feathers?

What do we know about the social and reproductive behaviors of dromaeosaurids?

Did bird ancestors evolve flight from the ground up or trees down? How might flight have evolved from the ground up? Do we have extant analogues for such a process?

How do we know birds are actually dinosaurs, and that we haven’t been misled by convergent evolution?

Why do birds have backward-pointing dewclaws?

What is the most likely phylogeny of modern birds?

Are eider ducks the fastest animals in the world?

Were there penguins in the Cretaceous?

Why do bateleur eagles have short tail feathers?

Do all owls have asymmetrical ears?

Are falcons closely related to parrots?

How many times did poison evolve in songbirds?

Taxonomy, Nomenclature, and Phylogenetics

How do you pluralize genus/species names?

What is the phylogenetic species concept?

What is wrong with ranked/Linnaean taxonomy?

If birds are reptiles, shouldn’t tetrapods be considered fish?

Should we avoid calling birds dinosaurs because they were not traditionally called dinosaurs?

How is phylogenetic nomenclature reconciled with the fact that species must have evolved from other species?

What is a synapomorphy and how do we identify one?

How often do morphological and molecular phylogenetics agree?

General/Other Biology

Should the study of birds be included under herpetology?

Why is monogamy more common in birds than in mammals?

We don’t know what ichthyosaurs and sauropterygians are (needs updating)

How do reptiles drink?

How to identify a rodent skull

Why do mammals have ear flaps?

Could a mammal evolve as many neck vertebrae as a bird?

How can you tell the position of an animal’s ears by looking at its skull?

What is the difference between mesothermy and endothermy?

Why has the "Handicap Principle” been disputed?

Does any organic material remain in fossils?

Does it worry me that paleontologists will run out of fossils to discover?

What do I think about using humor in scientific outreach?

Just for Fun

Meme about fossil bird books

Fusion is a cheap tactic to make weak reptiles stronger

Meme about horses in geology

What are some works of paleo-fiction that I enjoy? (needs updating)

What are some webcomics about extinct animals that I enjoy? (needs updating)

List of science-themed music artists (needs updating)

Phylogeny (“Under the Sea” parody)

We don’t talk about Spino

Are there non-talking horses in Equestria (from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)?

Hilda and the nature of revelations

Doraemon

Movie review: Nobita’s Dinosaur (1980) and Nobita’s Dinosaur (2006)

Movie review: The Records of Nobita, Spaceblazer (1981) and The New Record of Nobita’s Spaceblazer (2009)

Movie review: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil (1982) and New Nobita’s Great Demon (2014)

Movie review: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil (1983)

Movie review: Nobita’s Great Adventure into the Underworld (1984) and Nobita’s New Great Adventure into the Underworld (2007)

Movie review: Nobita’s Little Star Wars (1985) and Nobita’s Little Star Wars 2021 (2022)

Movie review: Nobita and the Steel Troops (1986) and Nobita and the New Steel Troops (2011)

Movie review: Nobita and the Knights on Dinosaurs (1987)

Movie review: The Record of Nobita’s Parallel Visit to the West (1988)

Movie review: Nobita and the Birth of Japan (1989) and Nobita and the Birth of Japan (2016)

Movie review: Nobita and the Animal Planet (1990)

Movie review: Nobita’s Dorabian Nights (1991)

Movie review: Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds (1992)

Movie review: Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth (1993)

Movie review: Nobita’s Three Visionary Swordsmen (1994)

Movie review: Nobita’s Diary on the Creation of the World (1995)

Movie review: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express (1996)

Movie review: Nobita and the Spiral City (1997)

Movie review: Nobita’s Great Adventure in the South Seas (1998)

Movie review: Nobita Drifts in the Universe (1999)

Movie review: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King (2000)

Movie review: Nobita and the Winged Braves (2001)

Movie review: Nobita in the Robot Kingdom (2002)

Movie review: Nobita and the Windmasters (2003)

Movie review: Nobita in the Wan-Nyan Spacetime Odyssey (2004)

Movie review: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend (2008)

Movie review: Nobita’s Great Battle of the Mermaid King (2010)

Movie review: Nobita and the Island of Miracles (2012)

Movie review: Nobita’s Secret Gadget Museum (2013)

Movie review: Stand by Me Doraemon (2014)

Movie review: Nobita’s Space Heroes (2015)

Movie review: Nobita’s Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi (2017)

Movie review: Nobita’s Treasure Island (2018)

Movie review: Nobita’s Chronicle of the Moon Exploration (2019)

Movie review: Nobita’s New Dinosaur (2020)

Movie review: Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020)

Ranking the Doraemon movies (1980–2022)

Where to find Doraemon in English

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

reptiles are the only TRUE genders

all of these clades can be found on the wikipedias

[mariolanzas]

MONQUIRASAURUS

One of the many animals featured on my new video dedicated to Sauropterygians

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