"Like a sea serpent run through a turtle." ~ William Buckland, Oxford University Geology Lectures, 1832

Featuring a long, snake-like neck and a stout body equipped with slender paddles, Plesiosaurs are one of the most readily identifiable of all ancient marine reptiles.

Biomechanical reconstructions suggest that Plesiosaurs moved through the water in the same way that turtles or penguins do, more like flying than swimming. Scientists have also discovered that Plesiosaurs used their unique bodies to hunt for bottom-dwelling crustaceans.

With nearly 140 million years in the fossil record, Plesiosaurs were incredibly successful creatures. As air-breathing reptiles, they lived near the surface in the open seas, and were able to spread around the world. Fossilized skeletons of Plesiosaurs have been found in Europe, North America, and Australia.

New paleontological evidence suggests that Plesiosaurs may have given birth to live young instead of laying eggs, adding an interesting twist to a very unique family of reptiles.

The story of marine reptiles such as the Plesiosaur, not to mention our modern understanding of species extinction, would be incomplete without discussing the contribution of Mary Anning (1799-1847).

Ms. Anning was born to a working-class family in Lyme Regis, a small town on the Dorset coast of southern England. Like many in the area, Anning's family sold fossils recovered from the cliffs, but for Mary, it would become a primary source of revenue, and later a connection to the much wider world of science.

Her most notable finds include the first complete Ichthyosaurus and the first two complete Plesiosaurs (the first of which is also credited to her brother Joseph). She is also credited with being the first to recognize the importance of coprolites and had extensive knowledge of ammonites.