Plesiosaurus

Plesiosaurus, an early plesiosaur, was about 4.5 metres (15 feet) long, with a broad, flat body and a relatively short tail. It swam by flapping its fins in the water, much as sea lions do today, in a modified style of underwater “flight.” The nostrils…

…she uncovered the first intact Plesiosaurus skeleton. The specimen was so large and well preserved that it attracted the attention of French zoologist Georges Cuvier, who doubted the finding until he saw the drawings of the specimen in a paper by English geologist and paleontologist William Daniel Conybeare. After Cuvier…