(1) The plesiosaur and sauropod dinosaurs had 30 to 50 neck bones!(2) These are sauropterygians, marine reptiles related to plesiosaurs , from the middle Triassic.(3) More distantly related to true dinosaurs were the marine plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs.(4) Marine vertebrates included the large dolphin-like ichthyosaurs and the long-necked plesiosaurs , marine crocodiles, turtles, and other reptiles.(5) While dinosaurs ruled the land, the ichthyosaurs, classified variously in the Ichthyosauria or in the Ichthyopterygia, shared the seas of the world with the other great groups of large marine reptiles, the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs.
