Dinosaur fossils & 3D skeletons › Plesiosaurus
Plesiosaurus Fossil & 3D Skeleton
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus
- Age
- Jurassic, about 201.4–184.2 million years ago
- Found in
- UK
- Length
- 2.9 m
- Height
- 0.4 m
- Group
- Plesiosaur (marine reptile, not a dinosaur)
How this 3D skeleton was made
This 3D model is a reconstruction. Most bone shapes (380 of 462) are estimated from close relatives and published reconstructions. The bone shapes are not the actual shapes of this species' fossils. 7 bones were shaped from photos or figures of this species' own fossils. 75 are borrowed from close relatives.
From this species 7Borrowed from relatives 75Estimated 380
Bones known from fossils
38 of 462 bones are known from fossils. 11 are missing and filled in. 413 have no record.
Known 38Filled in 11No record 413
Tap a bone on the 3D page to see where each bone shape came from.
Sources
- 3D Skeleton: A reconstruction created on this site from freely usable materials (research papers, out-of-copyright books, Wikimedia photos) (2026-10-05). Of the 462 bones (excluding teeth), 7 bones were shaped from photos, drawings, and dimensions of actual fossils of this species; 75 bones borrowed shapes from close relatives and were scaled to size; and 380 bones were estimated. Materials used: Conybeare 1824 Transactions of the Geological Society of London ser. 2, 1:381-389 (Wikimedia Commons PDF; original: doi:10.1144/transgslb.1.2.381) (Out of copyright (1824; Commons also marked Public domain)) / Lydekker 1889 Catalogue of the fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum Part II Ichthyopterygia and Sauropterygia (archive.org/details/catalogueoffossi02bri) (Out of copyright (published before 1929; author died in 1915)) / Wikimedia Commons (authors listed in figures.json) (CC BY 2.0 / CC BY 4.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Public domain).
- Known bones: 38 bones are documented as fossil finds or visible in photos (others are undiscovered or unclear from the literature)
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