Re: Some questions

[Stanley Friesen <sarima@ix.netcom.com>]

At 08:35 PM 6/6/97 PDT, Françoise Forel wrote:
>4) What is the difference between a Mosasaur and a Pliosaur?

A great deal.  The mosasaurs were marine lizards (in the correct scientific
sense of lizard).  They were probably closely related to the living monitor
lizards.  They *looked* like giant monitors with paddle feet and a
flattened tail.

The pliosaurs were part of a group of oddball forms, that *may* have been
an offshoot of the early diapsids.  They are most closely related to the
plesiosaurs and nothosaurs.  They looked rather like short-necked
plesiosaurs (and short-tailed as well).

Hmm, this book seems to imply that they are actually considered to *be* a
plesiosaur subgroup.

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com
                                          sfriesen@netlock.com