Name: Plesiosaurs 101 | National Geographic
Uploaded: 2021-11-03T05:06:36.000Z
Duration: 3 min 23 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Basic passive voice

to be mythical creatures at the center of tall tales.

But science tells a story of real-life monsters

that first appeared about 215 million years ago.

the long-necked plesiosaurs and the short-necked pliosaurs.

with large bodies and small, triangular heads

Their most signature feature was their long necks.

plesiosaur necks had up to 76 distinct vertebrae,

over 10 times more than that found in humans.

that they were, in fact, relatively stiff.

This allowed the plesiosaurs to stay streamlined

while swimming or while hunting fish, squid, and clams.

While the Plesiosaurs evolved long necks and small heads,

their pliosaur cousins went the opposite direction.

Their necks were short and their heads were large,

But much like plesiosaurs, pliosaurs were massive,

Despite their large size, pliosaurs were excellent swimmers,

capable of reaching speeds near 10 kilometers per hour.

Their speed, along with their great size,

allowed pliosaurs to become ferocious predators,

devouring large marine animals and even other Plesiosauria.

pliosaurs and plesiosaurs shared a few key features

that were characteristic of the genus Plesiosauria.

They used all four of their flippers to swim

And while they spent their entire lives in the sea,

coming up to the surface for oxygen before every dive.

but today, they continue to be a point of fascination,

inspiring legends as grand as the monsters themselves.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Plesiosaurs 101 | National Geographic

entire

massive

ancient

evolve