Dino card No. 0118 of 2,027

Anningasaura

Say it: AN-ing-ah-SORE-ah

Name means: “Anning's lizard”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursEarly JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Anningasaura was an early plesiosaur, a marine reptile that swam in the Jurassic seas. It had a long neck, a small head, and flippers like paddles. This creature lived about 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the land.1 3

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

201 to 184 million years ago3

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Lyme Regis, Dorset, United Kingdom1 3

Food

Meat3

Length

2 to 3 m1

estimated from a juvenile specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 17 bananas end to end

How big was Anningasaura compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Anningasaura is known from only one fossil, a skull and some neck bones from a young plesiosaur.1

The name Anningasaura honors Mary Anning, a famous fossil hunter who discovered many Jurassic marine reptiles in England.1

This plesiosaur had special features in its skull, like a thick platform on its upper jaw and extra holes in its skull bones.1

Anningasaura lived during the Early Jurassic, between 201 and 184 million years ago.3

Scientists think Anningasaura was a very early plesiosaur, not as advanced as later ones like Plesiosaurus.1

AI-made picture of Anningasaura — An AI-made picture of how Anningasaura might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Anningasaura

?Was Anningasaura a dinosaur?

No, Anningasaura was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea, not a dinosaur.1

?How big was Anningasaura?

Nobody knows for sure because only a skull and neck bones from a young plesiosaur have been found, so its full size is unknown.1

?What did Anningasaura eat?

Scientists do not know exactly, but as a plesiosaur it likely ate fish and other small sea creatures.1

?When did Anningasaura live?

Anningasaura lived during the Early Jurassic, about 201 to 199 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Anningasaura
Named by: Vincent and Benson 20123
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Rhomaleosauridae3
Classification: Plesiosauria > Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 201 to 184 million years (Hettangian / Pliensbachian)3
Countries: United Kingdom3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Anningasaura was named in 2012 by paleontologists Peggy Vincent and Roger Benson. The only fossil was found in Lyme Regis, England, and was first thought to be a different plesiosaur called 'Plesiosaurus' macrocephalus.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly where Anningasaura fits on the plesiosaur family tree, because it has a mix of ancient and unique features.1

Where the facts come from

Anningasaura (en.wikipedia.org)
Anningasaura, new plesiosaur from UK (dml.reptilis.net)
Anningasaura in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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