A specific genus of large marine plesiosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period, featuring an extraordinarily long neck with up to 70 vertebrae.
From Greek 'elasmo-' (plate) and 'sauros' (lizard), formalized as a scientific genus name in the 19th century during the era of dinosaur discovery in North America.
Elasmosaurus was discovered in 1868, and when it was first reconstructed, paleontologists put the head on the wrong end of the body—they attached it to the tail instead of the neck tip!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.