plesiosaur

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Related to plesiosaurs: Pliosaurs, ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs

ple·si·o·saur

 (plē′sē-ə-sôr′, plē′zē-)
n. pl. ple·si·o·saurs
Any of various extinct marine reptiles of the group Plesiosauria of the Mesozoic Era, having paddlelike limbs, a short tail, and sometimes a very long neck.
[New Latin Plēsiosaurus, type genus : Greek plēsios, near to; see pel- in Indo-European roots + Greek sauros, lizard.]

plesiosaur

(ˈpliːsɪəˌsɔː)
n
(Palaeontology) any of various extinct marine reptiles of the order Sauropterygia, esp any of the suborder Plesiosauria, of Jurassic and Cretaceous times, having a long neck, short tail, and paddle-like limbs. See also ichthyosaur Compare dinosaur, pterosaur
[C19: from New Latin plēsiosaurus, from Greek plēsios near + sauros a lizard]

ple•si•o•saur

(ˈpli si əˌsɔr)

n.
any extinct marine reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous suborder Plesiosauroidea, having a thick body and paddlelike limbs.
[< New Latin Plesiosaurus (1821) genus name < Greek plēsí(os) near, close to + -o- -o- + saûros -saur]
ple`si•o•sau′roid, adj.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.plesiosaur - extinct marine reptile with a small head on a long neck a short tail and four paddle-shaped limbsplesiosaur - extinct marine reptile with a small head on a long neck a short tail and four paddle-shaped limbs; of the Jurassic and Cretaceous
plesiosaurus
archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile - extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts
genus Plesiosaurus - a reptile genus of suborder Plesiosauria
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References in classic literature ?
There were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of the Lias.
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The thing must have been sixteen or eighteen feet in length and closely resembled pictures I had seen of restored plesiosaurs of the lower Jurassic.
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"They were some kind of weird plesiosaurs that nobody knew."
'Real-life Loch Ness Monster' fossil found in Antarctica after 70 MILLION years; The giant elasmosaur's 70-million-year-old remains have been unearthed on a small island in Antarctica
Plesiosaurs were huge marine reptiles that lived in seas throughout the entire planet inhabited the entire planet, with long necks, tiny heads, and sharp teeth.
Argentina puts 65-million-year-old dinosaur replica on display
The fossil record of pliosaurid plesiosaurs ranges from the Lower Jurassic to the Upper Cretaceous.
A new large Pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Sachica, Boyaca, Colombia/Un nuevo Pliosaurido de gran tamano del Barremiano (Cretacico Inferior) de Sachica, Boyaca, Colombia
Plesiosaurs were giant, four finned, and fierce looking marine carnivores that roamed the waters of Antarctica 150 million years ago.
Antarctica's Most Ancient Creature Found
(17) After giving an overview of "[t]he animals of the Mesozoic life" such as "reptiles with enormous bellies and small but strong legs and arms," "theromorpha," "plesiosaurs," "ichthysosaurs," "reptiles [that] were herbivorous animals...
Africology: An Introductory Descriptive Review of Disciplinary Ancestry
The exhibition displays exciting remains of giant prehistoric reptiles, with ichthyosaurs, giant plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.
`There be monsters' at museum
Kaikaifilu's main prey was aristonectine plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles that filter-fed much like baleen whales.
Monster sea lizard of Antarctica
Driving across the North American Heartland, surrounded by prairie, it is almost impossible to imagine that once this was once a huge and relatively shallow inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway, an ancient body of water which split the entire continent of North America in half, and once teemed with predatory creatures ranging from fanged fish and turtles the size of small cars; to prowling sharks and giant squid; to hungry plesiosaurs and immense crocodiles.
'Dinosaurs' of the Deep
Plesiosaurs didn't flap with all their flippers, nor did they use only their rear flippers to swim, the simulations suggest.
Plesiosaurs swam like penguins
(1997): A new pistosaurid (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Nevada and its implications for the origin of the plesiosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17(3), 526-533.
First Triassic tetrapod (Sauropterygia, Nothosauridae) from Castilla y Leon: evidence of an unknown taxon for the Spanish record

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