An international paleontologists team has identified a new species of marine reptile in the well -known slate fossil deposits Germanya finding that expands the knowledge of prehistoric oceanic ecosystems that existed about 183 million years ago.
The newly classified species, baptized as Plesionectes Longicollum (“almost long -neck swimmer”), represents a type of previously unknown seafood (marine reptile): the group of long -neck marine reptiles that inhabited the oceans of the earth during the era of dinosaurs. The research results have been published today in Peerj magazine.
The specimen is an almost complete skeleton that even retains remains of fossilized soft tissue, and although it was originally excavated in 1978 in a quarry in Holzmaden (in southwest Germany) its unique anatomical characteristics have been fully recognized by an exhaustive scientific analysis that has now been published.
“This specimen has been in collections for decades, but previous studies never thoroughly explore their distinctive anatomy,” said Sven Sachs, from the Bielefeld Nature Museum, lead author of the study.
The investigation has demonstrated, according to the researchers, that the training of Posidonia, already famous for its exceptionally preserved fossils, contained a diversity of marine reptiles even greater than the one that was previously recognized.
The Pesionectes specimen is particularly significant, since it represents the oldest known plesiosour of the Holzmaden area, and despite being an immature individual, its distinctive anatomical characteristics were not significantly affected by their development stage, which justifies its classification as a completely new genus and species; The fossil is permanently preserved in the State Museum of Natural History of Stuttgart.
In the Postidonia formation of Holzmaden, five other species of Plesiosaurs have already been described, including representatives of the three main lineages, and this new incorporation further consolidates the position of the formation as one of the most important windows in the world to the marine life of the Jurassic.