HOME | DD
dewlap — Elasmosaurus
Published: 2008-05-14 12:03:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 6004; Favourites: 88; Downloads: 3081
Redirect to original
Description
ElasmosaurusRelated content
Comments: 27
Fabulous artwork. Textured look on the skin looks great.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Elasmosaurus seems pretty scary when you draw it lipless, and I thik I can agree with your idea against lip-less plesiosaurs. anyway, what about the gums of the animal? Aren't they....I don't know, sensitive or something?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The way that I imagine it is that they probably have something that is very similar to the crocodilians where the "outside" jaw is covered by scales and the "inside" jaw is where gums are. Maybe they also have those small sensory structures like the crocodiles and gavials (but not on the alligators though some thinks that they also do have them but they are much finer than the others) on their body scales to detect vibration in the water or serve as touch receptors.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I have to say that I'm not too well read on this. I'm not sure whether we have any skin samples of plesiosaurs; all I could remembered are skins from mosasaurs ([link] ) or other marine reptiles ([link] ). These scales are fairly different from crocodilians; and none of them showed these sensory organs ([link] ; and by the way unlike fish these receptors aren't just located laterally). How closely related are mosasaurs and plesiosaurs? Would they have very similar integument (skin/scales)? Could there be sensory receptors on them but they are microscopic? I have no idea.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mosasaurs are related to monitor lizards and snakes, so sensors on them is a possibility, I think, although there's no reason not to speculate that there were no sensors on plesiosaur skins as well. Maybe not like a fish, but some kind.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
now, this is getting away from your original query which is about the sensitivity of these gums. The whole point is if it's ok for the crocodilians; I just don't see how plesiosaurs can't cope with being lip-less. As I said earlier all we can do is speculate about the ISO on the body since we haven't had any skin impression found from plesiosaurs. The comment made about the mosasaurs is to see whether we can infer a similar integument on plesiosaurs from mosasaurs; since I have no idea how close they are and by doing so we can get a more reasonable estimate. Even if they are alike; from the current paper we still have no proof on whether they do or don't. If we go back to the crocodiles again we can see that the distribution of these ISO are different within the same order (where crocodiles and gharials have these sensory receptors on their bodies and alligators don't) so it would be even harder to infer this feature onto animals that is in different order...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Okay, I'm beginning to see the picture now...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The sculpted nature of the skull's surface suggests that they had a covering of scales on their faces, with no muscles, except those for the jaws and eyes and tongue.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Probably this one of the most common way of depicting it, since they are reptiles (originated from a terrestrial ancestor) and so they are likely to be covered with scales. Crocodiles, turtles and even sea snakes have scales, so I suppose it is safe to assume that they are scaly as well. Elasmosaurs also have quite sizable teeth that protrude very far (especially at the front) from their jaws so it is likely that they are lipless. As for the crocodilian appearance, perhaps it's the shape of the skull?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Actually it was the lipless-ness in particular that interested me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
One of the best reconstructions I've seen. Nice job.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank
Yeah...there isn't many decent elasmosaurus pictures anywhere that I could find...perhaps I don't know how to surf the net...
I saw a photo of an undeformed skull from an auction catalogue and at the time we needed a picture of an elasmosaurus (well we sell their fossilized teeth... I used to work for a museum) for the shop display... that is how this picture come about...(not something that I want to draw but something I need to do...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, for something you were forced into it turned out pretty great.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It is an interesting drawing because this drawing actually make me think a bit... maybe it's just me...
Whether these animals processed lizard-like lip (flaps of skin but not really muscular like mammals) or not? I don't know, but logically I thought since the primary function of the lips is to prevent dehydration of the mouth (I think...), so it is unlikely that these animals would require lips since majorities of the time they are submerged in water...
These animals are more water bounded then most crocodilians (even crocodiles don't have lips and they are more terrestrial than the elasmosaurus) so I didn't give the elasmosaurus drawing lips...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, I beleave that an elasmosaurs teeth would almost certainly be arranged like that of a crocodilian.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Is it a good aaahhh or a bad aaahhh?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
alright... 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
