page_title: Thalassomedon
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Thalassomedon / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Thalassomedon hanningtoni, giant elasmosurid plesiosaurian from Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian ) of North America. Русский: Thalassomedon hanningtoni, гигантский плезиозавр-эласмозавр из позднего мела (сеноман) Северной Америки.
context_page_description: Thalassomedon is a genus of plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943.
context_section_description: Thalassomedon is among the largest elasmosaurids, with a total length of 10.86 metres (35.6 ft) for the holotype. There is a larger skull however suggesting a much larger animal, potentially up to 11.7 metres (38 ft). The neck is also very long; it comprises 62 vertebrae and is about 5.9 metres (19 ft) - over half of the total length. The skull is 47 centimetres (19 in; 1.54 ft) long, with 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long teeth. The flippers were about 1.5–2 metres (4.9–6.6 ft) long. Stones have been found in its stomach area leading some to theorize that they were used for ballast or digestion. If the latter, stomach action would cause the stones to help grind ingested food.
caption: Restoration
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