Insightful Discoveries: New Fossils Shed Light on Plesiosaurus Diversity and Local Adaptations

German paleontologists have unearthed a very well-preserved skeleton of the early Jornaian plesiosauloid species Plesioptery Wildi.

From a global perspective, the early Jurassic was characterized by the steady division of the Supercontinent Pangaea and associated climate change that produced alternating greenhouses and ice house conditions.

These paleoenvironmental changes coincided with radiation in various reptile groups. Plesiosauria.

The early Jurassic fossil records of the Plesiosaurus are particularly diverse, with members of Plesiosauroidea, Pliosauridae and Rhomaleosauridae being represented by numerous species in Europe, particularly in Germany and the UK.

3 m long skeleton Plesioptery Wildi It provides new clues about the evolution and geographical distribution of early Jurassic Precio Sources.

Fossils that were 180 million years ago posidonienschiefer layer Near Holtzmadden in southern Germany.

The specimen, called MH 7, is one of the most complete and distinct plesioaurus skeletons found in the region.

“Unlike the fishy scallions and marine crocodile parents who dominate the fossil record of this formation, Pleciosaurus is relatively rare,” said Miguel Marx, a paleontologist at Lund University and his colleagues.

“Therefore, new discoveries offer rare glimpses into the biodiversity of these long-necked marine reptiles.”

“MH 7 represents someone who refines this type of known trait and refines its validity as a clear taxa.”

Phylogenetic analysis shows that Plesioptery Wildi It is a close-related early potential plesiosaualoid Franconiasaurus Brevispinus.

“This finding suggests a progressive evolutionary transition to more derived cryptocrizids in the late Jurassic period,” the paleontologist said.

“It supports the idea that Prisiosaurus species may have been regionally different in the Epicontoninent Seas of early Jurassic Europe, reinforcing the pattern of paleobiogeographic segregation.”

“The Holtzmadden specimen gives us an unprecedented view Plesioptery Wildi At a more mature stage of development, we can refine our understanding of this species and its place in the evolution of plesiosaurus,” said Dr. Marx.

“It also suggests that different plesiosaurus communities may have evolved in different regions of the European sea during the early Jurassic region.”

“Our research reinforces the Pleciosoaurus already evolves specialized adaptations and distinct regional lineages much faster than we believed,” added Dr. Sven Sachs, a researcher at the Naturkunde Museum Bielefeld.

“This has important implications for understanding how marine reptiles responded to changes in the Jurassic ocean environment.”

study Published in the journal Peerj.

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M. Marx et al. 2025. New specimen of Plesioptery Wildi We reveal the diversification and possible uniqueness of Cryptocrizia precursors in the early European Jurassic Plecioaurauro assembly. Peerj 13:E18960; doi:10.7717/peerj.18960