After a long search to piece together the puzzle of the plesiosaur's swimming style, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have solved it using computer simulations that reveal how the ancient animals used their unique four flippers to make their way through the ocean.
"Plesiosaur swimming has remained a mystery for almost 200 years, so it was exciting to see the plesiosaur come alive on the computer screen," Adam Smith, who participated in the research, said in a press release. "Our results show that the front limbs provide the powerhouse for plesiosaur propulsion while the hind limbs are more passive."
The simulations show that using their four flippers, the plesiosaurs were able to utilize the most effective swimming motion - its front two flippers are flapped in an underwater flight motion like a penguin, while the rear flippers were most likely used for steering and stability.
Plesiosaurs are an extinct group of marine reptiles that have caused debate over their swimming style in paleontology groups for years. They were apex predators for 135 million years during the dinosaur age.
Further simulations could reveal the degree of agility that these creatures gained from their unique swimming style.
The findings were published this week in PLoS Computational Biology.
