Dino card No. 0436 of 2,027

Colymbosaurus

Say it: ko-LIM-bo-SORE-us

Name means: “diver lizard”4

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursMiddle Jurassic to Early CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Colymbosaurus was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that swam in the seas with a long neck and flippers. It was not a dinosaur, but a fierce hunter of the ocean.4

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

168 to 113 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fossils of Colymbosaurus have been found in the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and Russia.4

Food

Meat4

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Colymbosaurus lived from about 168 to 113 million years ago, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.4

It belonged to a group called Cryptoclididae, which were plesiosaurs with long necks and small heads.1

There were at least two valid species: Colymbosaurus megadeirus and Colymbosaurus svalbardensis.1

Colymbosaurus trochanterius is not considered a valid species, but some fossils are still referred to Colymbosaurus.1

Fossils have been found in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in the UK, which was a shallow sea at the time.1

Colymbosaurus was actively mobile and lived in the water, likely swimming near the surface.4

AI-made picture of Colymbosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Colymbosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Colymbosaurus

?What did Colymbosaurus eat?

It was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat, such as fish and other sea creatures. It lived in the ocean and was a skilled hunter.4

?How big was Colymbosaurus?

Scientists are not sure of its exact size, but it was a medium-sized plesiosaur. It had a long neck and flippers for swimming.2

?Where was Colymbosaurus found?

Fossils have been found in the UK and Svalbard, Norway. They come from rocks that were once a shallow sea.3 2

?Is Colymbosaurus a dinosaur?

No, it is a plesiosaur, which is a marine reptile that lived in the sea. It is not a dinosaur.2

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Colymbosaurus was a dinosaur.

Truth: Colymbosaurus was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile, not a dinosaur.4

For dino experts

Scientific name: Colymbosaurus
Named by: Seeley 18744
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Cryptoclididae4
Classification: Plesiosauria > Sauropterygia4
Age of the rocks: 168 to 113 million years (Bathonian / Aptian)4
Rock formations: Kimmeridge Clay, Portland Stone, Agardhfjellet4
Countries: United Kingdom, Norway, France, Russia4
Fossil records: 18 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Colymbosaurus was named by Harry Seeley in 1874 based on fossils from the UK.4
Still debated: Scientists debate which species belong to Colymbosaurus, because some fossils are incomplete and hard to compare.1

Where the facts come from

Anatomy of Colymbosaurus megadeirus (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of the U.K., and high diversity among Late Jurassic plesiosauroids (tandfonline.com)
Colymbosaurus – Plesiosaur Directory (plesiosauria.com)
Colymbosaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Colymbosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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