Plesiosaur

Cryptoclididae

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Elasmosauridae

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Plesiosauridae

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Pliosauridae

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Plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-SORES) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. They are somewhat fancifully said to look like "a turtle with a snake threaded through its body", though they lacked a shell.

Related Topics:
Carnivorous - Reptile

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They first appeared in the late Triassic period and thrived until the K-T extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Despite being large Mesozoic reptiles, they were not a type of dinosaur.

Related Topics:
Triassic - K-T extinction - Cretaceous - Mesozoic - Dinosaur

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It is occasionally claimed that plesiosaurs are not extinct, although there is no scientific evidence for this belief; the modern sightings that are occasionally reported are usually explained as basking shark carcasses or hoaxes.

Related Topics:
Basking shark - Hoax

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