L. Beverly Halstead

Academic paper

Journal of the Geological Society of London

146

37-40

Plesiosaurs are unique in being the only underwater fliers with four 'wings', and how the two pairs worked in relation to one another is a matter of some controversy. Newman's hypothesis of porpoising seems to provide a possible solution. Any discussion of plesiosaur locomotion must take into account the different modes of plesiosaur life: the long-necked forms were fish-eating surface paddlers and the short-necked were diving cephalopod feeders.

Reptilia; Plesiosauria; locomotion; Plesiosaurus; pliosaurs; elasmosaurs; Sauropterygia; Euryapsida; functional morphology

English