Plesiosaur

Official artwork

## Reference

### Current Range

Isolated lakes throughout North America including {w|Kansas}}, Michigan and Ohio.

## Notable Appearances

### InCryptid Shorts

Loch and Key

**Plesiosaurs** are dinosaur-like creatures currently believed extinct to the wider scientific community.

Cryptozoologists have been able to identify several distinct, geographically isolated subspecies of plesiosaur that survived to the modern day. This article is primarily about the **mishigamaa**,  or Michigan Lake Monster.

## About

Plesiosaur are an ancient aquatic reptile that thrived in the Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous periods. Five species of plesiosaur are known to have survived to modern day. They have very limited range and are only found in certain isolated lakes.

Plesiosaurs are not dinosaurs. Rather, they are cold-blooded aquatic creatures with the ability to to hibernate under the surface of frozen lakes. They are approximately ten feet in length and mature over the course of approximately fifteen years. Their full lifespan is unknown, as are their natural social habits. They have been observed in family groups of up to six.

Some species of plesiosaur hatch from eggs, while others have live births. Mishigamaa young gestate for approximately eleven months and, like dolphins, they are born needing to breathe air immediately and must surface quickly to ensure survival.

Plesiosaurs, particularly, Mishigamaa, are carnivores with a preference for fish. They will eat the bodies of their dead.

### Mishigamaa

The Mishigamaa *(Dolichorhynchops mishigamaa)* is found in the Michigan state area. Its  name was derived from the Ojibwa word meaning "large lake.” Its coloration is duller than other subspecies, perhaps allowing for its continued ability to hide from the wider world.

The Mishigamaa are friendly to people they trust and they have decades-long memories.

## In the Series

### Chaos Choreography

Verity and Dominic discover a plesiosaur that some college students hatched from an egg and have been keeping in a local reservoir. Verity activates the family phone tree to get her dad and uncle's help relocating it to a lake in the Cascade Mountains.

### Loch and Key

Jonathan, Alexander, and Enid Healy take Fran to White Otter Lake, where they introduce her to the family of plesiosaurs--which they call Michigan Lake Monsters--who live there.

## Popular Culture

***Plesiosaurus*** (Greek: *πλησίος* ('**plesios'**), near to + *σαῦρος* ('**sauros'**), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the early part of the Jurassic Period, and is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. It is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles.

Ancient plesiosaurs lived in warm, tropical waters. If they lived in colder climates like Michigan, they would need to frequently surface to sunbathe and regulate their temperatures.

### Lake Monsters

More than three hundred lakes around the world have had sightings of large, mysterious creatures that are called "lake monsters." They have been called sea serpents, dragons, wyrms, and water horses.

Lake monsters of interest to the Price-Healy family may include:

* Bessie, the Lake Erie Monster of Ohio
* Charles Mill Lake Monster of Ohio
* Lake Leelanu Monster of Michigan
* Wally, the Wallowa Lake Monster of Oregon

**See also:** List of lake monsters (Wikipedia)

### Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster is a plesiosaur whose legends originate in Loch Ness, Scotland. There are often twenty-plus sightings a year. An agency called the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau conducted an observational study on the loch for ten years but found no conclusive evidence.

### Silver Lake Serpent

The Silver Lake Serpent legend originated in Perry, New York in 1855. It was sighted multiple times over the next two years and brought monster hunters and tourists flocking to the lake. A newspaper offered a reward for its hide, paid out by-the-foot. It was later revealed as a wire-and-canvas construction that some locals created to drum up business.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plesiosaur
2. ↑ Chaos Choreography Ch. 1
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Plesiosaurus
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolichorhynchops
5. ↑ Chaos Choreography Ch. 1
6. ↑ How dolphins give birth
7. ↑ Loch and Key
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Halls, Kelly Milner (2019). *Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide to 50 Fascinating Beasts.* Seattle: Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1632172105.
9. ↑ Coleman, Loren and Jerome Clark (1999). *Cryptozoology A-Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Ness Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature.* New York: Fireside. ISBN 978-068486025
10. ↑ Ocker, J.W. (2022). *The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters.* Philadelphia: Quirk Books. ISBN 978-1683693222