Crossword clues for nothosaur
The Collaborative International Dictionary
nothosaur \nothosaur\ n. An extinct marine reptile with longer more slender limbs than plesiosaurs and less completely modified for swimming.
Wiktionary
n. Any of several extinct marine reptiles, of the order ''Nothosauroidea'', from the Triassic period
WordNet
n. extinct marine reptile with longer more slender limbs than plesiosaurs and less completely modified for swimming
Wikipedia
Nothosaurs (order Nothosauroidea) were Triassic marine sauropterygian reptiles that may have lived like seals of today, catching food in water but coming ashore on rocks and beaches. They averaged about in length, with a long body and tail. The feet were paddle-like, and are known to have been webbed in life, to help power the animal when swimming. The neck was quite long, and the head was elongated and flattened, and relatively small in relation to the body. The margins of the long jaws were equipped with numerous sharp outward-pointing teeth, indicating a diet of fish and squid.
Usage examples of "nothosaur".
Appearing in the oceans about the same time as the ichthyosaurs were another group of euryapsid reptiles called the nothosaurs.
The limbs of nothosaurs show none of the modifications seen in ichthyosaurs and they could have supported the adult on land if they came ashore to lay eggs.
But careful restudy of the structure of the roof of the mouth and of the shoulder bones of these animals indicates that most nothosaurs are too specialized to be plesiosaur ancestors.