Landlocked Mermaid

Plesiosaurus Photo from Wikipedia Kingdom: Animalia Class: Reptilia Conservation Status: Extinct (EX) (Unless you count Nessie.) Found: Worldwide, number of skeletons found in the UK Era: Jurassic Lived: 135 million years ago Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore Weight: 450kg (992lbs) Size: 3.5m (11ft) Habitat: Ocean The plesiosaurus is an icon marine dinosaur, as it is often how we depict the Loch Ness Monster. It has a long slender body, small head and wide flippers on its side. The term plesiosaur covers all dinosaurs with this combination of features, and they are closely related to pliosaurs (which is the dinosaur I was initially researching and getting confused about the spelling of, you can see how.) This dinosaur was discovered in 1823 by Mary Anning, a Victorian woman who collected fossils on British beaches. She is a fascinating woman who discovered a number of different dinosaur species and what a bezoar stone was. Fossilised poop if you are ...

Suggested by Carole , who is a fan of this month's creature ! Which is... *drum roll* Nudibranch Photo credit: Dive the World Kingdom: Animalia Class: Gastropoda Conservation Status: Not Evaluated (NE) [As far as I can tell] Found: Worldwide; salt water, occasionally brackish water Diet: Carnivorous Size: 0.25-12 inches Weight: Up to 3.3lbs Habitat: Seabed, depths from intertidal zones to 700m (2,300ft) Nudibranch are a vastly diverse species inhabiting our oceans, with 3,000 valid species so far. They are everywhere, in any type of sea. They are found in tropical waters, temperate waters, even the cold (cold) waters of the both Poles. New species are even being found at depths of 2,500m (8,200ft). Everywhere! While they are most diverse in shallow, warm waters, there are two main types of nudibranch: Dorids and Aeolid. They have distinct defining features, which I shall get into later. (I feel you need a little more information first!) Most...