Revised vertebral count in the "longest-necked vertebrate" Elasmosaurus platyurus Cope 1868, and clarification of the cervical-dorsal transition in Plesiosauria.

Elasmosaurid plesiosaurians are renowned for their immensely long necks, and indeed, possessed the highest number of cervical vertebrae for any known vertebrate. Historically, the largest count has been attributed to the iconic Elasmosaurus platyurus from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas, but estimates...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sven Sachs, Benjamin P Kear, Michael J Everhart
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23940656/pdf/?tool=EBI