Plesiosauria

E674176

Plesiosauria is an extinct group of large marine reptiles characterized by broad bodies, flippers, and typically long necks that thrived in the Mesozoic seas.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
Plesiosauria canonical 2
Plesiosauroidea 1
Plesiosaurus 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf clade
extinct marine reptile group
sauropterygian
bodyPlanVariation long-necked small-headed forms
short-necked large-headed forms
characteristic broad body
four large flippers
often long neck
relatively small head in many forms
short tail
class Reptilia
containsSubgroup Plesiosauroidea
linked to: Plesiosauria

Pliosauroidea
convergentWith sea turtles in locomotion
diet carnivorous
discoveredBy early 19th-century paleontologists
distinguishedFrom ichthyosaurs
mosasaurs
environment marine
extinctionEvent Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
feedingBehavior marine predator
firstAppearance Late Triassic
fossilEvidence known from abundant skeletal remains
fossilsFoundIn marine sedimentary rocks
geographicDistribution Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America
global oceans
kingdom Animalia
lastAppearance end-Cretaceous mass extinction
livedIn Mesozoic seas
locomotion aquatic
neckVertebraeCount often more than 30 cervical vertebrae in long-necked forms
notableGenus Cryptoclidus
Elasmosaurus
Kronosaurus
Liopleurodon
Plesiosaurus
phylum Chordata
reproduction live birth in water
viviparous
superorder Sauropterygia
swimmingStyle underwater flight with flippers
taxonRank order
temporalRange Cretaceous
Jurassic
Late Triassic

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Diapsida includesTaxon Plesiosauria
Crystal Palace Dinosaurs depicts Plesiosaurus
linked to: Plesiosauria
Tendaguru Formation yieldedFossil Plesiosauria
Plesiosauria containsSubgroup Plesiosauroidea
linked to: Plesiosauria