Nothosaur marine reptile — Neusticosaurus edwardsii

Geologic period: Middle Triassic — Ladinian

Age: Middle Triassic, Ladinian.

Feeding: Small aquatic prey is inferred from skull and tooth anatomy.

Locomotion: Aquatic swimming using body, tail and limbs.

Body plan: Small elongated sauropterygian with a long neck, slender limbs and an aquatic body form.

Evidence: Numerous skeletons preserve anatomy and growth information. Bone-growth rings have even been used to estimate maturity and lifespan in related Neusticosaurus samples.

Why it matters: Neusticosaurus demonstrates the diversity of small marine sauropterygians before the later rise of giant plesiosaurs.

Plain Language Identity: A small pachypleurosaur marine reptile from the Middle Triassic.

What You Are Looking At: Fossil skeletal material of Neusticosaurus edwardsii.

Ecosystem: Middle Triassic shallow marine environment around the Monte San Giorgio region.

Preservation: Fossil skeleton.

Find Location: Northern Italy / southern Switzerland region.

Open Questions: Do not describe this small pachypleurosaur as a plesiosaur. Both belong within Sauropterygia, but they are distinct groups.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2575768/; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9276568/

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title and scientific name matched; chronology and lineage distinctions retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Neusticosaurus edwardsii

Evidence / representation: comparative_taxon_visual

comparative_taxon_visual

Rise of the Dinosaurs: A New World After Catastrophe.

Media license: CC BY-SA 3.0 de

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en