Styxosaurus was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile. It was not a dinosaur, though it coexisted with many dinosaurs. Styxosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous and resided in North America. The first Styxosaurus fossil was discovered in 1952.

Quick facts about Styxosaurus:

  • Existed from 89.3 million years ago to Maastrichtian Age
  • Lived in a marine environment
  • Was a carnivore
  • Reproduced by live birth
  • 8 different specimens have been found by paleontologists

All the Styxosaurus illustrations below were collected from the internet. Enjoy and explore:

Styxosaurus was described by the following scientific paper(s):
  • D. J. Cicimurri and M. J. Everhart. 2001. An elasmosaur with stomach contents and gastroliths from the Pierre Shale (Late Cretaceous) of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 104(3-4):129-143
  • E. D. Cope. 1877. Report on the geology of the region of the Judith River, Montana, and on vertebrate fossils obtained on or near the Missouri River. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey 3(3):565-597
  • J. E. Martin and L. E. Kennedy. 1988. A plesiosaur with stomach contents from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Pierre Shale of South Dakota: a prelimiinary report. Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences 67:76-79