恐龍卡第 1098 張，共 2 027 張

Luskhan

名字的意思： “water spirit chief”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀早期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Luskhan was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the ancient seas of what is now Russia. It had a long, slender snout and small teeth, perfect for catching soft, squishy prey like squid. Unlike many other pliosaurs, Luskhan was not a giant apex predator but a specialized hunter of small animals.1 2

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

133 到 126 百萬年前4

白堊紀早期

化石發現地

Ulyanovsk region, western Russia, on the right bank of the Volga River1 2

長度

6.5 m (21 ft)1 2

最高速度

時速約 26 公里（16 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 6 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 36 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 6.9 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Luskhan 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)

Luskhan 時速約 26 公里 (16 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

Luskhan is known from a nearly complete, three-dimensionally preserved skeleton, which is rare for pliosaurids.1 2

Its name comes from Mongolian and Turkic mythology: 'luus' means water spirit and 'khan' means chief.1

Luskhan lived about 128 million years ago, during the Hauterivian stage of the Early Cretaceous.1

Unlike most other pliosaurs, Luskhan had a long, slender snout and small teeth, similar to the distantly related polycotylid plesiosaurs.1 2

Luskhan evolved its fish-eating features independently from polycotylids, more than 10 million years later.1

The only known specimen was discovered in 2002 by Russian paleontologist Gleb N. Uspensky on the banks of the Volga River.1

Luskhan is an early-diverging brachauchenine, meaning it shows a mix of traits from earlier and later pliosaurs.1 2

Luskhan 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Luskhan 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 Luskhan 最常被問的問題

?How big was Luskhan?

Luskhan was about 6.5 metres (21 feet) long, which is roughly the length of a large boat.1

?What did Luskhan eat?

Luskhan ate small, soft prey like squid. Its slender snout and small teeth were perfect for catching soft animals, not large prey.1 3

?Was Luskhan a dinosaur?

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

給恐龍專家

學名: Luskhan
命名者: Fischer et al. 20174
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Pliosauridae4
分類: Plesiosauria > Pliosauridae > Sauropterygia4
岩石的年代: 133 到 126 百萬年 (Hauterivian)4
國家: 俄羅斯4
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆4
發現: Luskhan was named in 2017 by a team led by Valentin Fischer, based on a skeleton found in 2002 by Gleb N. Uspensky in western Russia.1 4
仍有爭議: Scientists are not sure exactly how large Luskhan grew, because no complete length estimate has been published.1