Plesiosaur

What person does not experience some wonder when imagining the many giant extinct creatures that once populated the Earth? In Plesiosaur, I have sculpted a scene that once may have been common in the Mesozoic oceans and seas. In this scene a short-necked plesiosaur is feeding in much the same way as present day sea lions. It is darting into a school of fish. As it moves into the school, fish begin to scatter as each flees from this highly efficient marine predator. 

Plesiosaur skin type is not well documented. I interpreted it to be relatively smooth to reduce drag while swimming. This would seem to fit with the prevailing belief that this animal was a very active pursuit predator, capable of rapidly swimming after and snapping up its prey. I chose a patina coloration that seemed to be appropriate for an animal in this ecological nitch. This duplicates what many marine animals show today. Light ventral coloration provides them with camouflage when viewed from below. A darker blue green dorsal surface would also make them difficult to see against a backdrop of dark deep water when viewed from above.