A New Elasmosaur from the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas: Systematic Description

Authors

S. P. Welles, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

The elasmosaurs were marine reptiles, plesiosaurs with extremely long necks and proportionately very small heads. The larger individuals of the Upper Cretaceous attained a length of forty feet, with necks over twenty feet long. Their limbs were so highly modified into paddles that progress on land must have been extremely difficult, if not impossible. Their long sharp teeth indicate a fish-eating habit, and this has been confirmed by the fossilized stomach contents. The fish were evidently gulped down whole and ground up in a gizzard-like organ which contained stomach stones.

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Recommended Citation

Welles, S. P. (1949) "A New Elasmosaur from the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas: Systematic Description," Fondren Science Series: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholar.smu.edu/fondrenscienceseries/vol1/iss1/1