The Plesiosaur Directory

Image Gallery

(Alphabetical order, by genus)

1. Photograph ofthe holotype of Attenborosaurus, before it was destroyed.The skeleton was mounted in a block together with a cast of the opposite side of the body and the opposite side of the head. 2. The cast of Attenborosaurus in the Natural History Musuem, London.

Photographs of a cast of Attenborosaurus in the Department of Earth Science, Oxford University. Far left - full body view, middle - detail of the pectoral girle, right - close up of the skull.

Cast of the Skull of Attenborosaurus, in Trinity College, Dublin.

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Cryptoclidus: 1. Cryptoclidus 'oxoniensis' = eurymerus. Postcard from the Paris Musee de Paleontologie. 2, 3. Adult Cryptoclidus, American Museum of Natural History, New York. Photo by Adam S. Smith, 2006. 4, 5. 3D 'bust' of a Cryptoclidus head in the York Museum. Photograph by Adam S. Smith. 2005. 6. Young individual of Cryptoclidus, Natural History Museum, London. Photo by Adam S. Smith 2005. 7. Cryptoclidus in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. Photograph by Adam S. Smith. 2007. 8.Cryptoclidus model in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. Photograph by Adam S. Smith. 2007.

Eretmosaurus: Photograph of BMNH 14435 on display in the NHM, London. Because these specimens are wall mounded and covered in glass, they are unfortunately very difficult to see, let alone investigate scientifically. Photo by Chris Crump, used with kind permission.

Dolichorhynchops. Left -taken in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D. C. Courtecy of Hector. E. Rivera. Right - Mounted skeleton of the Holotype (from Williston, 1903), in the University of Kansans Museum of Natural History.

Hauffiosaurus. Taken in the Hauff Museum, Germany.

Keichousaurus, private specimen. Courtecy of Ken LeBlanc.

Restoration of Keichousaurus hui by Gareth Monger. Used with permission.

Kronosaurus queenslandicus skeleton (photo courtecy of H. E. Rivera)

Mounted skeleton of Liopleurodon. From Martill and Naish (2000)

Three close up shots of the Liopleurodon mount in Tubingen, Germany. All used by kind courtecy of Markus Felix Bühler (many thanks 'Sordes').

A mounted skeleton of Plesiopterys. Franziska Grossman (2007) reidentified this skeleton as a juvenile Seeleysaurus. Left. From Benton (1990). Right. In the Löwentor-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Courtecy of Markus Felix Bühler (many thanks 'Sordes').

Nothosaurus sp. vertebra. Taken in the Staaliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe. Photograph Courtesy of S. M. Clabby.

Nothosaurus sp., restoration in Karlsruhe by Adam Procházka. Photograph Courtesy of S. M. Clabby.

Another restoration of Nothosaurus, this one in the Löwentor-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Notice the fossil skeleton under the head in the third photograph. Photos, including title image above, courtecy of Markus Felix Bühler (many thanks 'Sordes').

Pachycostasaurus dawnii . During preparation, from Dawn (1997)

Peloneustes (below) and Cryptoclidus (above) in Tubingen Museum, Germany. Courtecy of Markus Felix Bühler (many thanks 'Sordes').

Peloneustes. Plaster cast produced by the Rev. H. Neville Hutchinson (1922).

Plesiosaurus brachypterygius. Taken in the Hauff Museum, Germany.

skeletons of Plesiosaurus brachypterygius (from Hauff, 1953)

3D restoration of Plesiosaurus brachypterygius by Adam Procházka. Photograph taken in the Uweltmuseum Hauff. Courtesy of S. M. Clabby.

Type specimen of Plesisoaurus dolichodeirus (original specimen on display at the Natural History Museum, London. Photograph courtecy of Tom Challands)

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Model of Plesiosaurus by Hirokazu Tokugawa (used with kind permission of Hirokazu Tokugawa, see his other models at http://www2.neweb.ne.jp/wc/A-fragi)

Wonderful skeleton of Plesiosaurus guilielmiiperatoris with a close up of the skull (from Hauff, 1953)

'Plesiosaurus' macrocephalus skull in lateral and dorsal view. Taken in Bristol City Museum.

Skeleton of 'P' macrocephalus. Left: Original specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London (photograph courtecy of Tom Challands). Right: (photograph of a (poor) cast in the collections of the Bath Institute, taken with permission by A. S. Smith)

Pliosaurus brachyspondylus: the 'Westbury Pliosaur'. Skull and associated teeth. Taken in the Bristol City Museum.

Pliosaurus brachyspondylus in aquatic environment. Model and photograph by Arril Johnson.

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1, 2 Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus (the Barrow Kipper) in the New Walk Museum, Leicester (the skull is a cast.)The specimen was designated as the neotype after destruction of the original type (see below) during the Second World War. (photographs by A. S. Smith). 3, 4.The original skull of Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus in anterior and in lateral view, with a reconstruction for reference (modified from Cruickshank et al. 1991)

Rhomaleosaurus. The Wilmcote plesiosaur in Warwick Museum, UK. Catalogued as Rhomaleosaurus arcuatus, and on display as Eurycleidus arcuatus, a detailed study of this specimen will probably reveal it to be another specimen of Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus (Cruickshank, 1994b). N.B. the image on the right has been digtally altered, the preparators mounted the skeleton wrongly, leaving a considerable gap between the neck and the body. (Photographs by A.S. Smith).

Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus (labeled as 'Plesiosaurus megacephalus'). Photograph of a life-size image in the Bristol City Museum.

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Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni :

1.Cast of the holotype of Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni. Taken in the Natural History Museum, London. (photograph courtesy of Hector E. Rivera )

2. Cast of the holotype of Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni. Taken in the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute. Curator Matt Williams for scale.

3. Skull of actual holotype of Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History). Note also the crates in the background - these contain the segments of body and limbs of the rest of the skeleton.

4. Victorian model of Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History).

Holotype of Rhomaleosaurus propinquus mounted on a wall of the Whitby Museum.

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Rhomaleosaurus victor. 1. Perhaps the most beautiful specimen of a plesiosaur ever? 'R' victor skeleton in ventral view and a 2. close-up of the skull (from Fraas, 1910). Recommended! 3. The specimen as currently displayed in the SMNS (Löwentor-Museum). 4. A life-restoration of R. victor on diplay in the SMNS with a close up of the head (5).

Skull of holotype of Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus on display at the York Museum

Two Serpianosaurus (from Benton, 1990)

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Simolestes: 1. Plate iii from Andrews (1913) (book available here), showing the holotype (R. 3319) skull of Simolestes in dorsal and ventral view together with a cervical vertebra in various views, and a tooth. 2 and 3. Cast of the Peterborough specimen of Simolestes vorax, originally identified at Liopleurodon Dawn (1991). 3. shows detail of the snout. This cast was part of the Walking with Dinosaurs exhibit, these photos were taken in the Bristol Museum. 4. The original specimen on display in the Peterborough Museum (image courtecy of the "fossilkid" Jamie Jordan, who owns the World Fossil Forum)

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a, Skull of Simosaurus - on postcard - origin unknown. b and c, Simosaurus skeleton on display in the SMNS.

Generic CGI Plesiosaur, featured on a BBC documentary concerning the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. The progam concluded that there is no plesiosaur in the Loch.

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Photographs of the holoytpe skeleton of Thalassiodracon hawkinsi (BMNH 2018*) (cast in the Bristol Museum (A,B) and of the original specimen in the NHM London (C)). A and C taken by A. S. Smith, B, taken by S. M. Clabby).

A referred specimen of Thalassiodracon (BMNH 2020*), also on display in the Natural History Musueum, London.Photo by A. S. Smith)

Specimen of Thalassiodracon in storage in the Natural History Museum, London. (Photo by A. S. Smith).

A mounted cast of the holotype of Thalassomedon in the American Museum of Natural History seen from the front, from below showing the pectoral girdle and pelvic girdle, and from the side (AMNH 29878).

ILLUSTRATED RESTORATIONS/ SPECIMENS (alphabetic order, by genus)

Skull of Anarosaurus in lateral aspect

Holotype skeleton of Archaeonectrus rostratus

Skull of Aristonectes parvidens

Reconstruction of the skull of Augustasaurus hagdorni in dorsal and ventral view

Skull of Brancasaurus in dorsal and lateral view, and showing the tip of the snout (C) in ventral view (from Wegner, 1914)

Skeleton of Cryptoclidus in lateral view (from Brown, 1981)

Skull of Cymatosaurus minor

Skull of Cymatosaurus in lateral aspect

Skull of Cymatosaurus in dorsal aspect.

Skull of Dactylosaurus in dorsal aspect.

Eosauropterygia: the skulls of a number of these basal sauropterygians (modified from Storrs, 1993). Scale - 1cm.

Eretmosaurus rugosus

The skull of Kaiwhekea

Skull of Keichousaurus in dorsal aspect

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Lariosaurus. The skull of Lariosaurus xingyiensis (from Rieppel et al 2003). 2. The skull of Lariosaurus buzzi (from Rieppel 2000)

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1. Leptocleidus superstes cranium (lateral view, top left; ventral (palatal) view, top right) and vertebrae. Length of vertebral series approx. 45cm (from Andrews, 1922). 2. Leptocleidus supertes pectoral girdle in dorsal view (left), anterior view (top right), lateral view (bottom right), right humerus (center), and ribs (left)Length of pectoral girdle approx. 40cm (from Andrews, 1922).