恐龍卡第 1774 張，共 2 027 張

Terminonatator

名字的意思： “last swimmer”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Terminonatator was a marine reptile that swam in the shallow sea that once covered Canada. It was a plesiosaur with a long neck and four flippers, and it hunted fish and other sea creatures. This animal lived near the end of the age of dinosaurs, about 80 million years ago.1 3

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

84 到 72 百萬年前3

白堊紀晚期

化石發現地

Saskatchewan, Canada, in the Bearpaw Formation near Notukeu Creek in Ponteix1 3

長度

7 到 9 m (23 到 30 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 23 公里（14 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 2 台汽車排成一排一樣長跟 50 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 7.8 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Terminonatator 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)

Terminonatator 時速約 23 公里 (14 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

Terminonatator is one of the youngest plesiosaurs known from the Western Interior Seaway, a sea that split North America in two during the dinosaur age.1

The only fossil found is a skull and partial skeleton of a young adult. The skull is about 27 cm (10.6 in) long and had a short snout compared to other elasmosaurids.1

Over 150 pebbles were found inside its rib cage. These gastroliths helped it digest food, just like some modern birds and crocodiles.1

Its thigh bone was longer than its upper arm bone, which is unusual for an elasmosaurid. The right thigh bone had broken and healed while the animal was alive.1

The name Terminonatator means 'last swimmer' because it lived so late in the Cretaceous period, near the end of the age of dinosaurs.1

It had only nine teeth in the tip of its upper jaw, while most other plesiosaurs had ten. This might just be a difference between individuals.1

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

?How big was Terminonatator?

About 7 metres (23 feet) long, and up to 9 metres (30 feet) if it had an extremely long neck like Elasmosaurus.1

?What did Terminonatator eat?

It ate fish. Its small head and long, thin teeth were good for catching fish, and it probably used its long neck to help capture schooling fish.2

?When did Terminonatator live?

It lived about 70 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous period, in a shallow sea that covered Saskatchewan, Canada.2

?Why did Terminonatator swallow stones?

It swallowed stones called gastroliths, which may have helped it digest food or control its buoyancy in the water.2

給恐龍專家

學名: Terminonatator
命名者: Sato 20033
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Elasmosauridae3
分類: Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia3
岩石的年代: 84 到 72 百萬年 (Campanian)3
岩層: Bearpaw Shale3
國家: 加拿大3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆3
發現: Tamaki Sato named and described Terminonatator in 2003, based on a skull and partial skeleton found high in the Bearpaw Formation near Ponteix, Saskatchewan, Canada. The species name ponteixensis honors the town of Ponteix.1 3
仍有爭議: Scientists are not sure exactly how long its neck was. If it had as many neck vertebrae as Elasmosaurus (72), it could have been up to 9 m (30 ft) long.1