恐龍卡第 1440 張，共 2 027 張

Platecarpus

名字的意思： “oar wrist”1

吃：肉滄龍類白堊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Platecarpus was a fast-swimming marine lizard that lived in the sea during the time of the dinosaurs. It had a long tail with a shark-like fin and ate fish and squid. Platecarpus was not a dinosaur, but a mosasaur, a kind of giant sea lizard.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

100 到 66 百萬年前2

白堊紀晚期

化石發現地

United States (especially Kansas, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming), Canada, Sweden, Brazil, Australia, Russia, and other countries2 1

長度

5.67 m (19 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 38 公里（24 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 32 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 4.7 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Platecarpus 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)

Platecarpus 時速約 38 公里 (24 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

Platecarpus had a short skull and fewer teeth than any other mosasaur, with only about 10 teeth in each lower jaw bone.1

A well-preserved fossil shows skin impressions, pigments near the nostrils, and even the shape of the tail fluke, which was like a shark's tail.1

Platecarpus swam by moving its tail side to side, but its deep tail fin made it a powerful, fast swimmer, not like an eel.1

Fossilized stomach contents show that Platecarpus ate fish and did not digest its food completely, passing bones and scales quickly.1

A 2026 study of tooth chemistry suggests that Platecarpus was warm-blooded, like modern sharks and whales.1

Platecarpus fossils are very common in the Smoky Hill Chalk of Kansas, which was once the bottom of a shallow sea.1

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

?How big was Platecarpus?

About 5.7 metres (18.7 feet) long, based on a complete fossil. That is roughly the length of a small bus.1

?What did Platecarpus eat?

It ate medium-sized fish, and probably also squid and ammonites. Fossil stomach contents show it swallowed fish whole and digested them quickly.1

?When did Platecarpus live?

It lived about 84 to 81 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. That was the time of the dinosaurs.1

?Is Platecarpus a dinosaur?

No, it is not a dinosaur. It is a mosasaur, a kind of giant marine lizard that lived in the sea.1

?Where have Platecarpus fossils been found?

Mostly in the United States, especially in Kansas. Fossils have also been found in Belgium, Australia, and Africa.1

迷思破解王

迷思： Many people think mosasaurs like Platecarpus swam like eels, wiggling their whole body.

真相： Platecarpus had a crescent-shaped tail fluke and swam more like a shark, using its tail for powerful thrusts.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Platecarpus
命名者: Cope 18692
類群: 滄龍類
科 / 演化支: Mosasauridae2
分類: Mosasauroidea2
岩石的年代: 100 到 66 百萬年 (Cenomanian / Maastrichtian)2
岩層: Pierre Shale, Niobrara, Molecap Greensand2
國家: 美國, 加拿大, 瑞典, 巴西, 澳洲, 俄羅斯2
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 60 筆2
發現: Platecarpus was named by the famous paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1869, based on fossils found in Mississippi, USA.1 2
仍有爭議: Scientists still debate whether some fossils belong to Platecarpus or to other closely related mosasaurs, and some species have been moved to different genera.1