Elasmosaur vertebrae 1.jpg
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Elasmosaur vertebrae
SITE LOCATION: Morocco
TIME PERIOD: Cretaceous Period (80.5 -66 million years ago)
Data: Elasmosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur lived in North America in the Late Cretaceous period (Campanian stage), 80.5 million years ago. The first specimen was discovered near Fort Wallace, Kansas, and were sent to the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who named it E. platyurus in 1868. The generic name means "thin-plate reptile", and the specific name platyurus means "flat-tailed". Cope originally reconstructed the skeleton of Elasmosaurus with the skull at the end of the tail, an error which was made light of by the paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, and became part of their "Bone Wars" rivalry. Only one incomplete Elasmosaurus skeleton is known, and a single species is recognised today; other species are now considered invalid or have been moved to other genera. Elasmosaurus was 10.3 metres (34 ft) long, and would have had a streamlined body with paddle-like limbs, a short tail, small head, and an extremely long neck. Along with its relative Albertonectes, it was one of the longest-necked animals to have lived, with the largest amount of neck vertebrae known, 72. The skull would have been slender and triangular, with large, fang-like teeth at the front, and smaller teeth towards the back. It had six teeth in each premaxilla of the upper jaw, and may have had 14 teeth in the maxilla ad 19 in the dentary of the lower jaw. Most of the neck vertebrae were compressed sideways, and bore a longitudinal crest or keel along the sides.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Elasmosauridae
Genus: †Elasmosaurus
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