THE NEW PLESIOSAUR 
A GREAT MARINE REPTILE OF THE ANCIENT WorRLD. IN APPEARANCE 
COMPARABLE TO “A SNAKE THREADED THROUGH THE BODY OF A 
TURTLE.” ‘THE FOSSIL SKELETON IS NOW ON EXHIBITION ON 
THE FOURTH FLOOR OF THE MuSEUM 
By W. D. Matthew 
HE latest addition to the fossil skeletons on exhibition is a great 
marine reptile, eleven feet long, six feet and seven inches across from 
tip to tip of the paddles. It belongs to a group long since extinct 
and is very obviously unlike any living animal. The long flippers, broad 
compact body and short tail suggest a huge sea turtle; but there the resem- 
blance ends, for the creature had no bony carapace or “shell” and the long 
stiff neck and small flattened head with sharp teeth flaring out from the 
jaws are very unlike those of any turtles. 
This skeleton was found in an unusually complete condition and more- 
over, the bones were not distorted by crushing, which made it possible to 
articulate the skeleton in its true proportions and form, and mount it ina 
characteristic pose. Generally speaking skeletons as ancient as this one 
are found flattened in the rock, so that while they make a good bas-relief 
when the rock is chiseled away, they do not show the real form of the ani- 
mal as when alive. 
Plesiosaurs were both numerous and varied in the Age of Reptiles, and 
their remains have been found in marine formations of this era in all parts 
of the world. In the United States they occur in many localities from Cali- 
fornia to New Jersey, but the best specimens are from the Cretaceous 
formations of the Great Plains. The remains have been mostly fragmentary, 



Sketch Restoration of the Cryptoclidus, by Edwin Christman. Note the small 
head, stiff neck and the turtle-like paddles. Based on the mounted skeleton in the 
American Museum 
