FICTION OR FACT???

By: Shyan Chapman 06-02-2004

The Loch Ness "Monster" is NOT a dinosaur!

Based on eyewitness accounts of the "Monster" that inhabits the merky dark waters of Scotland's great Loch Ness, the Loch Ness "Monster" is a "Prehistoric Aquatic Reptile." It is most likely an Elasmosaurus, which is the longest member of the Plesiosaur family.

Elasmosaurus (Eh-Laz-Muh-Sore-Us), means "Thin plated Lizard." It was given this name because it's pelvic bones looked plate like.

SIZE: Elasmosaurus grew up to 46 feet long and about 5100 pounds, while the earlier Plesiosaur grew to 10-13 feet long.

FEATURES: Four long-broad paddle like flippers used like giant ores to dart through the water, it's snake like long neck and tiny head alone was half of it's body length, it had sharp teeth and strong jaws, it had two small holes on the top of the head for emerging and breathing air-this creature did not have gills like fish, it was Greenish in color and had 71 vertebrae- the earliest Plesiosaur had only 28 and modern mammals usually have 7 or 8 vertebrae.

LIVED: It is still in debate as to when this creature lived. Some say it came about during the end of the Jurrasic period and some say it came during the end of the Cretaeceous period, which was right after the Jurrasic period, some 65 plus million years ago.

FOUND: Asia (Japan) & North America (Kansas/Wyoming).

DIET: The Elasmosaurus was a meat eater. It ate fish

and other swimming animals.

If it swam, it was NOT a Dinosaur! Dinosaurs were land creatures that lived during the Mesozoic period. Large Sea reptiles were cousins that belonged to the amphibian family. When they died out, mammals evolved to take their place.

Dinosaurs have what is called "Antorbital fenestrae" – which means they had two holes in the skull located in front of the eye sockets and behind the nostrils. Plesiosaurs do not have these holes.

Dinosaurs also stood with legs directly under them like an elephant or a cow. Plesiosaurs limbs stuck out it's sides like a giant Sea turtle.

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