Links
This collection of links will inevitably be missing some important ones, and contain links to pages that no longer exist. Please keep me updated on missing or changed links.
Some bones collected at Big Brook which include those of plesiosaurs
Cimolasaurus magnus is a taxon set up on a few isolated vertebrae and must be considered to be a nomen dubium.
Site by Tony Gill, a commercial collector and owner of a Fossil Shop in Charmouth
He has some plesiosaur and pliosaur material for sale if you want to add to your collection. (If you do, please let me know so I can add it to my database). Check his page of stolen fossils - I know how much work is involved in preparing them, and it must be heart-breaking to have them stolen, let alone the financial loss. Contrary to what some people think, it is very hard to make a decent living by collecting and selling fossils.
Finding a plesiosaur
Part of Mike Everharts' wonderful 'Oceans of Kansas' site.
Well-illustrated account of mainly the North American elasmosaurs with which Mike Everhart is familiar.
Part of Mike Everharts' wonderful 'Oceans of Kansas' site.
Commercial site selling fossils
Some good specimens for sale if you want to build up your own collection of plesiosaur (and other fossil) material.
Some museums curators are very negative in their attitude to commercial dealers. I have heard one state publicly that "we do not pay for natural history specimens". It is worth noting that many of the great public collections, such as those of the Natural History Museum are built on material purchased from dealers. The main downside of trade in fossils is that many go into private collections and are effectively lost to researchers. If you buy anything from here or any other site, and are interested in making material available for research, please let me know so that I can add it to my database. No plesiosaur material from Morocco has been described or figured in the literature, although there is evidently a lot of material coming out of the ground there. It would be a great loss to science if this all disappears. Museum curators please take note: $6000 for that skull is a fair price, and unlike other material I have seen from Morocco, the preparation is excellent. And if you do buy it, can I borrow it for a while?
Adam Stuart Smith's site.
Almost the best plesiosaur site on the internet. Adam has been working on this for several years and has built up an considerable resource for researchers. It won the 'Golden Trilobite' award from The Palaeontological Association in 2013
Cut-out model elasmosaurus.
Looks fun - perhaps I'll have a go. Not keen on the neck though - not long enough and a bit 'swanny'.
Some pictures of plesiosaurs collected by Mary Anning.