恐龍卡第 0018 張，共 2 027 張

Acostasaurus

名字的意思： “Acosta's lizard”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀早期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Acostasaurus was a fierce marine reptile that swam in the warm seas of Colombia about 125 million years ago. It had a big head, sharp teeth, and flippers to paddle through the water. Even though it was not a dinosaur, it was a top predator in its ocean home.1

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

126 到 121 百萬年前4

白堊紀早期

化石發現地

Paja Formation, Villa de Leyva, central Colombia1 3

長度

最多 4 m (13 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 29 公里（18 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 22 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 6.2 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Acostasaurus 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡算算數學。什麼都不會被儲存或傳送出去。

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Acostasaurus 時速約 29 公里 (18 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Acostasaurus had very large eye sockets and big scleral rings, which helped it see in deep or murky water.1

Its skull was short and wide in the front, unlike many other pliosaurs that had long snouts.1

The only known fossil is a nearly complete skull and parts of the body, including a whole hind flipper and many vertebrae.1

Acostasaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous, a time when few plesiosaur fossils are known, called the 'Lower Cretaceous Gap'.3

It had a short lower jaw joint area with only five and a half pairs of tooth sockets, which is unusual for a pliosaur.1

The specimen was a subadult, because some bones in its skull were not fully grown together.1

Acostasaurus 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Acostasaurus 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Acostasaurus 最常被問的問題

?How big was Acostasaurus?

It was over 4 metres (13 feet) long. That is about as long as a small car.1

?Was Acostasaurus a dinosaur?

No, it was a marine reptile called a pliosaur, not a dinosaur. It lived in the ocean.1

?What did Acostasaurus eat?

It was a predator that ate other sea creatures. Its sharp teeth helped it catch prey.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Acostasaurus
命名者: Gomez-Perez and Noe 20114
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Pliosauridae4
分類: Plesiosauria > Pliosauridae > Sauropterygia4
岩石的年代: 126 到 121 百萬年 (Barremian)4
岩層: Paja4
國家: 哥倫比亞4
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆4
發現: Acostasaurus was named by Marcela Gómez Pérez and Leslie F. Noè in 2011, based on a fossil found in the Paja Formation of Colombia. The species name is Acostasaurus pavachoquensis.1 2
仍有爭議: Scientists are not sure whether Acostasaurus belongs to the brachauchenine group of pliosaurs, because its teeth are different from theirs.1