恐龍卡第 1838 張，共 2 027 張

Tuarangisaurus

名字的意思： “ancient lizard”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Tuarangisaurus was a long-necked marine reptile that swam in the seas around New Zealand 83 to 66 million years ago. It was not a dinosaur, but a plesiosaur, and it used its four flippers to paddle through the water. With a skull full of sharp teeth, it was a fierce hunter of fish and other sea creatures.5 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

84 到 66 百萬年前5

白堊紀晚期

化石發現地

New Zealand (Hawke's Bay), Argentina (Chubut), and Angola5 2

長度

8 m (26 ft)3

最高速度

時速約 24 公里（15 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 8 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 44 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 7.5 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Tuarangisaurus 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)

Tuarangisaurus 時速約 24 公里 (15 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

Tuarangisaurus had a skull that was 37 centimetres (about 15 inches) long, with fused premaxillary bones and a low ridge on top.2

It had five large teeth in the upper jaw (premaxilla) and about 15 smaller teeth in the maxilla, plus 19 to 20 teeth in the lower jaw.2

The name Tuarangisaurus means 'ancient lizard' in the Māori language, reflecting its New Zealand discovery.1

Fossils of Tuarangisaurus have been found in marine rocks that were once part of a shallow sea, showing it lived in coastal waters.2

Scientists think Tuarangisaurus gave birth to live young, like other plesiosaurs, because it could not crawl onto land to lay eggs.2

The first fossils of Tuarangisaurus were found in the Mangahouanga Stream on the North Island of New Zealand, and included both adult and juvenile skull material.1

Tuarangisaurus is part of a group called elasmosaurids, which were plesiosaurs with very long necks.5

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

?How big was Tuarangisaurus?

Tuarangisaurus was a medium sized plesiosaur, measuring over 8 metres long, about the length of a school bus.4 3

?When did Tuarangisaurus live?

Tuarangisaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 78 million years ago, in the seas around New Zealand.4

?Was Tuarangisaurus a dinosaur?

No, Tuarangisaurus was not a dinosaur. It was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile with a very long neck, related to other elasmosaurids like Elasmosaurus.4

?What did Tuarangisaurus eat?

Tuarangisaurus was a hunter with sharp teeth, and it likely ate fish and other sea creatures, as mentioned in the page intro.3

給恐龍專家

學名: Tuarangisaurus
命名者: Wiffen and Moisley 19865
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Elasmosauridae5
分類: Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia5
岩石的年代: 84 到 66 百萬年 (Campanian / Maastrichtian)5
岩層: Tahora, Mocuio, Conway5
國家: 紐西蘭, 安哥拉, 阿根廷5
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 7 筆5
發現: Tuarangisaurus was named in 1986 by Joan Wiffen and W. L. Moisley based on fossils found in the Mangahouanga Stream, North Island, New Zealand. The type species is Tuarangisaurus keyesi.5 1
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating exactly how Tuarangisaurus is related to other elasmosaurids, and whether fossils from Argentina and Angola belong to the same species.5 2