恐龍卡第 1267 張，共 2 027 張

Nichollsia

名字的意思： “Nicholls' lizard, named after paleontologist Betsy Nicholls”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀早期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Nichollssaura was a small, fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the sea that once covered Alberta, Canada. It was a plesiosaur, not a dinosaur, and had a long neck and four flippers for paddling through the water. This creature helps scientists fill in a big 40-million-year gap in the plesiosaur fossil record of North America.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

113 到 100 百萬年前2

白堊紀早期

長度

2.6 到 2.9 m (8.5 到 9.5 ft)1

體重

135 kg (298 lb)1

最高速度

時速約 28 公里（17 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？

牠有多重？

跟 7 隻狗一樣重

跟 3 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 16 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長跟 27 顆西瓜一樣重跟 7 個幼兒園小朋友一樣重跟 4 個小學生一樣重能在 6.4 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Nichollsia 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)

Nichollsia 時速約 28 公里 (17 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

The fossil was discovered accidentally by giant electric shovel operators in an oilsand mine. The shovel cut off some bones, but the rest of the skeleton was almost complete.1

This plesiosaur was named after Dr. Betsy Nicholls, a famous paleontologist. The first name Nichollsia was already used for a type of isopod, so scientists changed it to Nichollssaura.1

Nichollssaura had 165 gastroliths (stomach stones) inside it. The stones were smooth and round, probably swallowed to help grind food.1

The stomach stones came from rocks that were 8 to 10 million years older than the plesiosaur itself. This suggests Nichollssaura may have swum west to collect pebbles from ancient beaches.1

It lived about 110 million years ago in the Boreal Sea, a warm shallow sea that covered parts of North America.1

The holotype specimen is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada.1

Nichollsia 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Nichollsia 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。

給恐龍專家

學名: Nichollsia
命名者: Druckenmiller and Russell 20082
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Leptocleididae2
分類: Plesiosauria > Sauropterygia2
岩石的年代: 113 到 100 百萬年 (Albian)2
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆2
發現: The specimen was found in 1994 by shovel operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal at a Syncrude oilsand mine in Alberta. It was named Nichollsia borealis by Druckenmiller and Russell in 2008, but the name was changed to Nichollssaura in 2009 because Nichollsia was already taken.1 2