Editing Setting:4chan Archipelago (section)

===Cryptoclidus(5)===
Cryptoclidus is estimated to weigh about 8 tons. Its head is rather flattened, with eyes facing upward. The skull is broad and light, with jaws lined with about a hundred long, fine teeth, ideal for catching fish and squid. The internal nares were set forward, and the nostrils were relatively small. At up to 8 meters (26 ft) long, Cryptoclidus was a medium-sized plesiosaur. It has a neck that is up to 2 meters (6.6 ft) long that does not seem to be very flexible. This probably keeps its bulky body away from its small head so as not to alarm potential prey. It has four broad paddle-shaped limbs, with which it either "flies" through the water in wave-like undulating movements, or swims like a porpoise by moving upwards on two flippers and gliding back down again on the other two. Due to their seal-like body plan, Cryptoclidus are amphibious animals instead of fully marine reptiles. Despite looking clumsy and cumbersome, in water it is relatively graceful, using all four limbs as paddles, to swim and hunt its prey. It lays eggs in sand. The fragile build of the head and teeth preclude any grappling with prey, so they enjoy a diet of small, soft-bodied animals such as squid and shoaling fish. Cryptoclidus uses its long, intermeshing teeth to strain small prey from the water, or sift through sediment for buried animals. The size and shape of the nares and nasal openings are used to sample seawater for smells and chemical traces.