Plesiosaur size: Difference between revisions
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Slate Weasel (talk | contribs) Redirect; poorly written and sourced (including personal websites and Paul's field guide), top 10 lists are inherently misleading when dealing with different estimation techniques and levels of precision, and the only salvageable part of the article is already covered in more detail in the plesiosaur article Tag: New redirect |
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#REDIRECT [[Plesiosaur#Size]] |
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{{cleanup|reason=Outdated information, poor wording.|date = December 2016}} |
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[[File:Paleo Hall at HMNS plesiosaur.jpg|thumb|200x200px|An example of a plesiosaur]] |
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[[Plesiosauria|Plesiosaur]]s are extinct marine reptiles. |
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==Record sizes== |
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[[File:Fossil-Plesiosaurier-Skelett.jpg|thumb|Plesiosaur skeleton of ''[[Meyerasaurus]]'' in the [[Museum am Löwentor]], [[Stuttgart]], seen from below]] |
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In general, plesiosaurians varied in adult length from between {{convert|1.5|m|ft}} to about {{convert|15|m|ft}}. The group thus contained some of the largest marine [[apex predator]]s in the [[fossil record]], roughly equalling the longest [[ichthyosaurs]], [[mosasaurids]], [[sharks]] and [[toothed whales]] in size. Some plesiosaurian remains, such as a {{convert|2.875|m|ft}} long set of highly reconstructed and fragmentary lower jaws preserved in the ''[[Oxford University Museum]]'' and referable to ''[[Pliosaurus rossicus]]'' (previously referred to ''[[Stretosaurus]]''<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tarlo | first1 = L.B.H. | year = 1959 | title = ''Stretosaurus'' gen nov., a giant pliosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay | url = | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 2 | issue = 2| pages = 39–55 }}</ref> and ''[[Liopleurodon]]''), indicated a length of {{convert|12.7|m|ft}}.<ref name="henry"/> However, it was recently argued that its size cannot be currently determined due to their being poorly reconstructed. MCZ 1285, a specimen currently referable to ''[[Kronosaurus queenslandicus]]'', from the [[Early Cretaceous]] of [[Australia]], was estimated to have a skull length of {{convert|2.21|-|2.85|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="henry"/><ref name=Pliosaurus2013>{{Cite journal | last1 = Benson | first1 = R. B. J. | last2 = Evans | first2 = M. | last3 = Smith | first3 = A. S. | last4 = Sassoon | first4 = J. | last5 = Moore-Faye | first5 = S. | last6 = Ketchum | first6 = H. F. | last7 = Forrest | first7 = R. | editor1-last = Butler | editor1-first = Richard J | title = A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0065989 | journal = PLoS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = e65989 | year = 2013 | pmid = 23741520| pmc = 3669260}}</ref> |
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==Plesiosaurs== |
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The longest known plesiosauroid was Albertonectes at 11.6 metres (38 feet) long. |
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===Longest plesiosaurs=== |
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# ''[[Albertonectes vanderveldei]]'': {{convert|11.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Albertonectes>{{Cite journal | last1 = Kubo | first1 = T. | last2 = Mitchell | first2 = M. T. | last3 = Henderson | first3 = D. M. | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2012.658124 | title = ''Albertonectes vanderveldei'', a new elasmosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | pages = 557–572| year = 2012 | pmid = | pmc = }}</ref> |
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# ''[[Styxosaurus snowii]]'': {{convert|11|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gorman2016"/> |
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# ''[[Thalassomedon haningtoni]]'': {{convert|10.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gorman2016"/> |
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# ''[[Elasmosaurus platyurus]]'': {{convert|10.3|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gorman2016">{{cite journal|last1=O'Gorman |first1=J. P. |year=2016 |title=A Small Body Sized Non-Aristonectine Elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with Comments on the Relationships of the Patagonian and Antarctic Elasmosaurids |journal=Ameghiniana |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=245–268 |doi=10.5710/AMGH.29.11.2015.2928}}</ref> |
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==Pliosaurs== |
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===Longest pliosaurs=== |
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# The NHM symphysis: {{convert|9.1-15.1|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry">{{cite journal|last=McHenry|first=Colin Richard|year=2009|title=Devourer of Gods: the palaeoecology of the Cretaceous pliosaur Kronosaurus queenslandicus|pages=1–460|url=http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Download/uon:12164/ATTACHMENT02|format=PDF}}</ref> |
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# The Peterborough vertebra: {{convert|11.6-14.2|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/>(hypothetical) |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus funkei]]'': {{convert|10-13|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=P.funkei>{{cite journal |authors=Espen M. Knutsen, Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Jørn H. Hurum |year=2012 |title=A new species of Pliosaurus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Middle Volgian of central Spitsbergen, Norway |journal=Norwegian Journal of Geology |volume=92 |issue=2–3 |pages=235–258 |ISSN=0029-196X}} [http://geologi.imaker.no/data/f/0/21/02/6_2401_0/NJG_2_3_2012_13_Knutsen_etal_Scr.pdf Low resolution pdf]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [http://geologi.imaker.no/data/f/0/21/02/6_2401_0/NJG_2_3_2012_13_Knutsen_etal_Pr.pdf High resolution pdf]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus kevani]]'': {{convert|10-13|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Pliosaurus2013"/> |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus rossicus]]/[[Pliosaurus macromerus]]'': {{convert|11.4-12.7|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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# [[Monster of Aramberri]]: {{convert|7.2-12.4|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/><ref name=frey>Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck ''Plesiosaurs, Reptiles between Grace and Awe'' In: Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva, Kenneth Carpenter, Eberhard Frey (2014) ''Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico'', ''Indiana University Press'', p.88</ref> |
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# ''[[Kronosaurus queenslandicus]]'': {{convert|10.5-10.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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===Heaviest pliosaurs=== |
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# The NHM symphysis: {{convert|7.1-32.4|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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# The Peterborough vertebra: {{convert|14.7-26.7|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/>(hypothetical) |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus rossicus]]/[[Pliosaurus macromerus]]'': {{convert|19.2|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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# [[Monster of Aramberri]]: {{convert|3.6-17.8|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus funkei]]'': {{convert|10.6-17|t|abbr=on}}<ref name=P.funkei/> |
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# ''[[Pliosaurus kevani]]'': {{convert|10.6-17|t|abbr=on}}<ref name=Pliosaurus2013/> |
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# ''[[Kronosaurus queenslandicus]]'': {{convert|10.6-12.1|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="henry"/> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|1}} |
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[[Category:Animal size]] |
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[[Category:Plesiosaur-related lists]] |
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Latest revision as of 18:34, 23 December 2023
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