How plesiosaurs flew under water
Dr. Anna Krahl studies Plesiosaurs, who belong to the group Sauroptergyia, which are incredibly difficult to study since they are all extinct. They lived in the same time as the dinosaurs but are not part of that group at all. Although we can lovingly refer to Plesiosaurs as Loch Ness Monster- none of us have ever seen any of them swim. For her PhD, Anna tried to reconstruct how they swam by turning her office into a plesiosaur and trying to reconstruct every muscle it moved. Did it fly underwater or did it row? Check it out in this video!
Link to the paper: Krahl A, Lipphaus A, Sander PM, Witzel U. 2022. Determination of muscle strength and function in plesiosaur limbs: finite element structural analyses of Cryptoclidus eurymerus humerus and femur. PeerJ 10:e13342 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13342
Credits:
University of Tubingen - Der gestiefelte Kater – Wikipedia
Dinosaur kid - RollUp Baby from Pixabay
Sea - Moshe Harosh from Pixabay
Biochemistry - Sabrina Eickhoff from Pixabay
Earth - vkhima from Pixabay
Alps - Adam Derewecki from Pixabay
Fish fossils - photosforyou from Pixabay
Ichthyosaur - kordula vahle from Pixabay
Dinosaur bone - scott7911 from Pixabay
Stenopterygius Ichthyosaurus – Haplochromis – Wikipedia
Peloneustus – Ghedoghedo – Wikipedia
Meyerasaurus - Ra'ike – Wikipedia
Monster of the deep - • Monster of the Deep - Elasmosaurus - Juras...
Loch Ness Monster – “Surgeons photograph” author disputed – Wikipedia
Nessie reconstruction – StaraBlazkova – Wikipedia
Nessie the serpent - Alexa Sabarth from Pixabay
Sauropterygia - De Miguel Chaves, Ortega & Pérez‐García Дмитрий Богданов – Wikipedia
Empty sea - Jack Drafahl from Pixabay
Early Sauropteryia – Scheyer et al., 2014 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....
Mind the Gap - Andrew Martin from Pixabay
Nothosaurus skull. Voeten et al., 2018 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....
Crocodile skull - M W from Pixabay
Sea turtle - Dennis Bennett from Pixabay
Turtle anatomy - Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
Crocodile dissected hindlimb – Klinkhamer et al., 2017 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....
Large breast muscle - Valentin Tikhonov from Pixabay
Biceps - Alora Griffiths on Unsplash
Duck feet - Vimeo-Free-Videos from Pixabay
Penguin under water - Christian Bodhi from Pixabay
Plesiosaur Lyme Regis, NHM London - https://www.flickr.com/photos/paleo_b...
Turtle rowing - Sephelonor from Pixabay
Ducks in water - InspiredImages from Pixabay
Baby turtles - patlannet from Pixabay
Sea turtle ocean - SAJA KING from Pixabay
Plesiosaur shoulder – Krahl et al 2022 - https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13342
Shoulder human – Young Lae Moon – Youtube - • 어깨를 짊어지다: 견봉쇄골 관절의 역할과 기능 Carrying the Wei...
Anna with the Plesiosaur in Bonn - https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/how-p...
Fossil hunting - M W from Pixabay
Quarry (steinbruch) am Blumenberg - Allie_Caulfield – Wikipedia
Playground - 博 孙 from Pixabay
Crochet - Esi Grünhagen from Pixabay
Plesiosaur in thumbnail: By JAH - 3D viewer, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...