Plesiosaurus

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## Classification

### Family

Plesiosauridae

* Evolution 2

## Size

### Weight

1 m
(3.3 feet)
3.5 m
(11.5 feet)
454 kg
(1,000.9 lbs)

## Environment

### Minimum population

3
2

### Fish

100%
0.40

## Incubation

### Cost

$325,000

***Plesiosaurus*** is a genus of marine reptile in *Evolution 2*. It originated from Early Jurassic Europe.

## Characteristics

Known for its powerful paddle-like limbs that allow it to swim through water at speed and a flexible, elongated neck that can move quickly to catch fish and other prey, *Plesiosaurus* is a piscivorous marine reptile that measures 3.5 meters in length. The namesake of the plesiosaur family, its name translates to "*Near Lizard*". Although small compared to other members of its family, such as *Elasmosaurus*, *Plesiosaurus* was the very first plesiosaur ever discovered and dates back to the Early Jurassic period around 200 million years ago,

## Gameplay

### Cosmetics

##### Skins

AMAZON RAINFOREST

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY

DEATH VALLEY

GAMBIA RIVER BASIN

GREAT SANDY DESERT

LIMPOPO RIVER

MANGROVE FOREST

QILIAN MOUNTAINS

SALAR DEL HUASCO

SONORAN DESERT

SVALBARD

YUKON RIVER

##### Patterns

File:Plesiosaurus Chalcorana pattern from Evolution 2.png
CHALCORANA

File:Plesiosaurus Lithobates pattern from Evolution 2.png
LITHOBATES

File:Plesiosaurus Papurana pattern from Evolution 2.png
PAPURANA

File:Plesiosaurus Pelophylax pattern from Evolution 2.png
PELOPHYLAX

File:Plesiosaurus Pulchrana pattern from Evolution 2.png
PULCHRANA

File:Plesiosaurus Rana pattern from Evolution 2.png
RANA

## Palaeontology

*Plesiosaurus* is a medium sized member of the plesiosauridae. Compared with other genera, *Plesiosaurus* has a narrow and short head. It retains a distinctive curvature on the humerus, a feature found in many ancestors of the plesiosauridae such as pistosaurs and nothosaurs. This indicates that *Plesiosaurus* was a primitive member of its family. Many old reconstructions show plesiosaurs with long, flexible necks arching out of the water and held in poses similar to some sauropods. However given the rigid structure of their necks, this seems very unlikely. Also recently disproved was the theory that these creatures would haul themselves onto land, similar to modern seals. Due to the structure of their skeletons, they could not survive on land and instead they were purely aquatic animals which gave birth to live young. With its sleek body and powerful fins, *Plesiosaurus* was an ocean going hunter, feeding on fish and ancient cephalopods which were abundant in the Jurassic waters.

*Plesiosaurus* was an early discovery, with its remains being found along the Jurassic Coast in southern England, by William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche in 1821, although the first complete skeleton was unearthed by renowned British paleontologist and collector Mary Anning in 1823, while she was searching for fossils in the Lias Group, Dorset. Anning's find was so unusual that it was initially dismissed as a fake – it was only when similar remains were found in the same location that she was believed. *Pleasiosaurus'* name means "*Near Lizard*" due to it looking more like modern reptiles than *Ichthyosaurus.* Like many Mesozoica genera named in Victorian times, *Plesiosaurus* became a wastebasket genus, with many plesiosauridae genera being assigned to it with little study. These were later moved to their own separate genera, including *Attenborosaurus*.

### Paleoecology

*Plesiosaurus* remains have been found in the Charmouth Mudstone Formation. It lived entirely in water (although it would surface for air) and swam vast stretches of ocean, with fossils found in Europe, Asia, North America and even Australia. *Plesiosaurus'* diet consisted of fish, molluscs and other marine reptiles, which it grabbed with its strong, sharp teeth. This is a part of the Lias lithostratigraphic unit found across a large area of northern Europe including the British Isles and Germany and spans from the latest Permian to the Early Jurassic. Other marine animals found here include *Attenborosaurus*, *Ichthyosaurus*, *Archaeonectrus* and various ammonites and fish. Inland lived the pterosaur *Dimorphodon* and the primitive thyreophoran dinosaur *Scelidosaurus*.