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'Elasmosaurus' (IPA pronunciation: ) Greek ''elasmos'' = thin plate (referring to thin plates in its pelvic girdle) + ''sauros'' = lizard) is a plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the late Cretaceous.

Contents

Anatomy

Diet

Ecology

Discovery

First attempted reconstruction

In Popular Culture

References

External links

Anatomy

It was about 14 m (46 ft) in length and weighed over 2,000 kg (2.2 tons), making it the longest plesiosaur. It had a large body and four flippers for limbs. More than half of its length was neck, which had more than 70 vertebrae, more than any other animal. It had a small head with sharp teeth.

Diet

It most likely ate small bony fish, belemnites (similar to squid), and ammonites (molluscs). It swallowed small stones in order to aid its digestion.

Ecology

''Elasmosaurus'' is believed to have lived mostly in open ocean. It's lifestyle is not well known but it most likely gave live birth to its young like modern sea snakes.

Discovery

''Elasmosaurus'' was described in 1868 by Edward Drinker Cope from a fossil discovered in Kansas, USA. Other specimens have been found in various locations in North America.
In the 19th century, Edward Drinker Cope accidentally placed the head of an ''Elasmosaurus'' on the wrong end (the tail). Othniel Charles Marsh pointed out the error, and this event is often cited as one of the causes of their long-lasting and acrimonious rivalry, known as the Bone Wars.

First attempted reconstruction

Cope published his erroneous reconstruction of ''Elasmosaurus'' in August 1869. This was the first time anyone had ever seen an elasmosaur and it appeared to have a long sinuous tail like a mosasaur. Note that while O.C. Marsh claimed to have pointed out Cope's error "20 years after the fact" in an 1890 newspaper article, it was Joseph Leidy who actually pointed out the problem in print in 1870.^[1]

In Popular Culture

★ Elasmosaurus made an appearance in the final episode of Sea Monsters

★ Singer/songwriter Matt Costa released ''The Elasmosaurus EP'' in 2005

References

1. Leidy, J. 1870. [Remarks on ''Elasmosaurus platyurus'']. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 22: 9-10.

External links

★ [1] ''Elasmosaurus platyurus'' on Oceans of Kansas

★ Elasmosaurus The Plesiosaur Directory - ''Elasmosaurus''