Plesiosaurs of the Opal Mines

I know that this sounds rediulous if you don't undersstand Plate Tectonics, but once many parts of the world that are now part of continents were part of the ocean floor.  Coober Pedy is one of those places.  The opal miners find fossilized marine animal parts in the rock.

This first picture has a Belemnite in or near the center.  Belemnites were related to squid.  But Belemnites had a hard bone-like cone shaped core.  This core sometimes got fossilized and sometimes was opalized in the process.  Those cores are beautiful.  Below the drawing is a photo of some opalized Belemnite cores we saw at the Umoona Opal Mine and Museum in Coober Pedy, South Australia.   The core is called the rostrum.  The largest ever found was found in Indonesia and the rostrum was 46 cm long. . . or 18 in.   That means the animal total size was probably about 5 meters long.  That is about 16 feet long.   But there were also Belemnites that were only a few cm or a few inches long.  Interestingly enough, the name Belemnite comes from the Greek word for Javelin.  The ancient Greeks thought that Belemnites were the tips of javelins or spears thrown down from Mount Olympus by the gods. 

Belemnite about to be eaten by a Plesiosaur

Opalized Belemnite Cores

(from Umoona Opal Mine and Museum)

This next drawing is of a mother and calf Plesiosaur called Elasmosaurus. They are swimming in shallow water above a coral reef area.  Below them is coral, sea anemone, some ocean plants and some kelp.  .   .  along with  a crab, shellfish, and some fish & etc.   Elasmosaurus was a long necked Plesiosaur.   It was around 36 feet long or about 11 meters long.   

Elasmosaurus mother with Calf

This next drawing is of some Plesiosaurs being hunted by a Pliosaur.  Pliosaurs are short necked Plesiosaurs.  The Pliosaur is Kronosaurus.  It was 42 feet long. . . or about 13 meters long.  Pliosaurs include Liopleurodon. .  We saw one at the Harvard Museum in Boston 15 years ago.  The fossilized skeleton was absolutely amazing.  I am adding an old photo of Kronosaurus from when it was first put on display in the Harvard Museum in 1959 I think.   The scientific name for Kronosaurus is
Kronosaurus queenslandicus.  It was found in the Australian state of Queensland by a Station owner.  A station is what a ranch is called in Australia.  They raise beef cattle.  

Kronosaurus hunting Pliosaurs

Kronosaurus on display at the Harvard Museum 

This last drawing is of Eric the opalized Plesiosaur.  He had a shorter neck but not the huge head of a Pliosaur so he is considered a Plesiosaur still.  It was only about 8 feet long nose to tail.  That is 2.5 meters long.  It had a remarkably short neck compared to other Plesiosaurs.   Eric was the name given to the only known Umoonasaurus fossil and he was found in a Coober Pedy opal mine.  Because this streamlined body shape is useful for swimming.  .   . this marine reptile looks a bit like a seal or sea lion.  This is called convergent evolution.  But Umoonasaurus was NOT a mammal. . . nor was Eric related to sea lions or seals.   He was a marine reptile.  In fact he is more closely related to a turtle or Salt Water Crocodile than a seal.   

Eric the Umoonasaurus

NOTE:   The printable versions are found by clicking the buttons up top labled . . . . . . .
. . . . . Paleontology. . . . . Australian Animals. . . . . or . . . . All Printables. 
Also, all drawings of mine on this site are Copyright 2014-2019  but permission to print for children to color is granted for non-commercial uses.  In other words, I WANT kids (or adults) to color these drawings.  I am fine with cruise lines, schools, daycares, etc. using my drawings.  And of course private citizens are welcome to use them as well.  What is NOT allowed is for someone other than me to sell them or market a coloring book with my drawings without my permission.   I have made coloringng books but never sold them.