Sea Dinosaurs

Genus (length): Description

Ichthyosaurs

Ichthysaurus (2 m / 6.5 ft)

A vertical two-lobed tail; long, narrow snout; sharp teeth; ate squid

Mixosaurus (1 m / 3.3 ft)

Tail ended in a point; many small teeth; ate fish

Shonisaurus (15 m / 49 ft)

Deep, bulky body; long equal-sized flippers; teeth at the front of the jaws only

Temnodontosaurus (9 m / 30 ft)

Barrel-shaped body, long snout, and powerful two-lobed tail; the eyes up to 26 cm / 10 inches across; largest eyes of any animal; the eyes surrounded by a ring of thin, overlapping bony plates

Nothosaurs

Ceresiosaurus (4 m / 13 ft)

Long, flexible tail, and extra bones in the toes; small head; jaws armed with small, sharp teeth; ate fish

Lauriosaurus (.6 m / 2 ft)

Lizardlike shape, with a short neck; short toes with claws on the hind feet; webs on the front feet; amphibious

Nothosaurus (3 m / 10 ft)

Five toes on webbed feet; the front legs than the hind legs; spines on the vertebrae; amphibious; ate fish

Pachypleurosaurus (2.5 m / 8 ft)

Slim and lizardlike, with paddles like flippers; the head small relative to the body; a range in size among the species; ate fish

Pistosaurus (3 m / 10 ft)

Smooth and elliptical flipperlike legs with no toes; a stiff backbone; a small and cylindrical head

Placodus (3 m / 10 ft)

Humpbacked; feet webbed and tail flattened; short head; three types of teeth in the jaws; skeleton reinforced; ate mollusks

Plesiosaurs

Cryptoclidus (8 m / 26 ft)

Neck up to 2 m / 6.5 ft long; large flippers; long, pointed, and interlocking teeth

Elasmosaurus (14 m / 46 ft)

Up to 71 neck vertebrae; neck up to 6 m / 20 ft; narrow head; ate fish

Muraenosaurus (6 m / 20 ft)

A long neck, with up to 44 vertebrae; the head 40 cm / 15 inches long; small flippers; a stubby tail; ate fish

Plesiosaurus (3 m / 10 ft)

A narrow head and slender neck and tail; two pairs of large, equal-sized paddles; numerous pointed, slightly curved teeth; ate fish

Rhomaleosaurus (7 m / 23 ft)

Long neck and large head; two pairs of equal-sized paddles; jaws up to 1 m / 3.3 ft long; large, protruding teeth

Pliosaurs

Kronosaurus (10 m / 33 ft)

Head 2.5 m / 8 ft long; larger and heavier than most land-based predators of the Cretaceous Period

Liopleurodon (25 m / 82 ft)

Larger than the sperm whale; the jaws hinged up to 4 m / 13 ft from the front; conical teeth up to 30 cm / 12 inches long; possibly live birth instead of eggs; ate any marine animal

Macroplata (6 m / 20 ft)

Small head; long neck with 29 vertebrae

Peloneustes (3 m / 10 ft)

A large head and a short neck; small teeth; the hind paddles slightly larger than the front paddles; streamlined; ate squid

Pliosaurus (12 m / 40 ft)

Skull 2 m / 6.6 ft long; triangular teeth; 20 vertebrae in the neck

Simolestes (6 m / 20 ft)

Massive head; blunt jaws; 6 large teeth on the lower jaw; 20 vertebrae in the neck; large paddlelike legs

Sea Dinosaurs

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