It's time for Fossil Friday! Meet Cryptocleidus oxoniensis, a short-necked plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs were large marine reptiles that lived from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. The plesiosaurs had extensive modifications to the shoulder and pelvic girdles: these elements form large, flat sheets of bone, presumably for the attachment of swimming muscles. Cryptocleidus' trunk was very rigid and short, and the short tail could only function as a rudder, leaving the limbs as its main organ of propulsion.
Photos: © AMNH
Image 1: Cryptocleidus on display in the Museum.
Image 2: Photographic negative of the fossilized remains of Cryptocleidus, circa 1910.
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i hate when the people i want live 6000 miles away
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(Post based off of a post from @scuddlez, art on the left made by Katrina Yarbro, fossil on the right called fighting dinosaurs)
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“Anton P. Chekhov - Ein Lebe” 1981
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If I didn't draw this fucking thing at least once I would probably die
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A thunder storm and inappropriate touching would fix me.
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