Dino card No. 1663 of 2,027

Simolestes

Say it: sim-oh-LES-teez

Name means: “snub-nosed thief”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursMiddle Jurassic to Early CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Simolestes was a pliosaur, a kind of short-necked plesiosaur that lived in the Jurassic seas. It had a short, high, and wide skull built to handle twisting forces when hunting. It probably ate squid-like animals and ammonites.1

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

Lived

169 to 143 million years ago2

Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

England (Oxford Clay Formation), France, and India (Bhuj Formation)1 2

Food

Meat1

Length

4.6 m1

estimate based on a head-to-body ratio similar to Liopleurodon

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 26 bananas end to end

How big was Simolestes compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Simolestes had salt-secreting glands, which helped it drink seawater and keep its salt balance.1

The type specimen of Simolestes vorax is an almost complete but crushed skeleton found in the Oxford Clay of England.1

Simolestes lived from the Middle to Late Jurassic, about 171 to 145 million years ago.1

Scientists think Simolestes might have hunted in deeper waters or at night, because its prey (cephalopods) move up at night to feed.1

The species Simolestes keileni from France was moved to a new genus called Lorrainosaurus in 2023.1

AI-made picture of Simolestes — An AI-made picture of how Simolestes 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 Simolestes

?How big was Simolestes?

The largest Simolestes vorax specimens reached about 4.6 metres (15 feet) long, based on a head to body ratio similar to Liopleurodon.1

?What did Simolestes eat?

Simolestes probably ate squid-like animals, belemnites, and ammonites. Its exact feeding habits are unclear, but it likely hunted in deeper waters or at night.1

?Was Simolestes a dinosaur?

No, Simolestes was a pliosaur, a type of short-necked plesiosaur, which is a marine reptile, not a dinosaur.1

?When did Simolestes live?

Simolestes lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic, about 171 to 145 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Simolestes
Named by: Andrews 19092
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Pliosauridae2
Classification: Plesiosauria > Pliosauridae > Sauropterygia2
Age of the rocks: 169 to 143 million years (Bajocian / Tithonian)2
Rock formations: Umia, Oxford Clay, Marnes de Gravelotte (=La Gravclotte Marls)2
Countries: India, United Kingdom, France2
Fossil records: 5 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Simolestes was named by C. W. Andrews in 1909 based on a skeleton from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough, England.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are unsure about the exact feeding habits of Simolestes, though the current consensus is that it ate cephalopods.1

Where the facts come from

Simolestes (en.wikipedia.org)
Simolestes 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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