海竜の最近のブログ記事

Kronosaurus

分類所属:
Euryapsida / Sauropterygia / Pliosauria
/ Family: Dolichorhynchopidae
/ First Discovered: 1901 / Found: Australasia：Australia / Length: 12m / Weight: 50t / Food: Meat
/ Young: Live young
/ Lived Early Cretaceous 112 million years ago

恐竜説明:
The pliosaurs and plesiosaurs formed the second group of reptiles that flourished in the oceans during the Mesozoic era. Of the two, the pliosaurs had massive heads and short necks, whereas the plesiosaurs had very small heads and long, flexible necks.

Kronosaurus was a typical pliosaur and has been described as one of the most fearsome animals to have lived on Earth. Its enormous head was over 3 m long, with massive jaws and peg-like front teeth of up to 25 cm in length. At the back of the jaw the teeth were rounded and it is likely that they were used for crushing shells or bones.

Kronosaurus had four large paddle-like limbs that enabled it to propel itself through water at great speed. In contrast to the long-necked plesiosaurs, the four paddles were roughly the same size, each measuring close to 1 m in length. It fed on anything, with large fish, reptiles and giant invertebrates (animals without backbones) high on its list of prey.
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Elasmosaurus

分類所属：
Euryapsida / Sauropterygia / Plesiosauria / Family: Elasmosauridae
/ First Discovered: 1868 / Found: North America; USA
/ Length: 14m / Weight: 25t
/ Food: Fish, sea life / Young: Live young
/ Lived: Late Cretaceous 70-65 mya

恐竜説明：
Elasmosaurus was a plesiosaur. Unlike Kronosaurus, it had a small head, a very long neck and a large, barrel shaped body. It was a gigantic creature; the mysterious Loch Ness Monster is thought to be of similar proportions and may well have been modelled upon it.
The neck accounted for half the dinosaur's total length and was made up of 75 or 76 vertebrae. In comparison, humans have only seven. It was very flexible, although it would have been held in a straight line when the Elasmosaurus was swim¬ming quickly. Plesiosaur paddles were huge structures, with the fin¬gers and toes again accounting for half of their total length. Like turtles, plesiosaurs 'flew' through water, but instead of rotating their paddles in a figure of eight movement, as turtles do, they used more of a rowing action.
Whereas Kronosaurus lunged at its food, Elasmosaurus would have cruised among shoals of fish and ammonites, picking off anything that swam within range. its small head was armed with numerous conical teeth that effectively interlocked to give greater grip. The Elasmosaurus was the longest plesiosaur known from the fossil record.
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