A Plesiosaur fossil of 183 million years found in Germany has preserved the soft tissue that reveals that the old marine reptiles had turtle scales.
New research helps to give life to these prehistoric creatures in a way that has not been possible despite 200 years of research.
Pesiosaurs are often confused with dinosaurs. While living at the same time, these old reptiles were part of a different lineage. The Pesiosaurs were extinguished at the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago in the mass extinction event that spell the end of the “Age of Dinosaurs”.
During the reign of dinosaurs on Earth, the Plesiosaurs were among several groups of marine reptiles that dominated the old seas of the earth.
Almost all the old marine reptiles were extinguished 66 million years ago. Today, the only remains of this group once dominant are sea turtles, sea iguanas, marine snakes and salt water crocodiles.
Pesiosaurs are distinguished by their long necks, small heads and 4 palette fins. Plesiosaur’s teeth were long and conical, perfectly adapted to catch slippery dams such as fish and squid.
The larger Pesiosaurs could grow up to at least 12 m long and weighed between 3 and 10 tons.
In research published In the newspaper Current biologyResearchers have analyzed the soft tissues of a Plesiosaur fossil for the first time. The old marine reptile was found near the city of Holzmaden in southern Germany.
The researchers point out that the general form of Pesiosaurs in reconstructions has not changed in 200 years. “However, the real external appearance of these famous Mesozoic reptiles is largely unknown,” they write.
“Fossilized soft fabric, such as skin and internal organs, is exceptionally rare,” says principal author Miguel Marx, a doctoral student at the University of Sweden at the University of Lund.
“We use a wide range of techniques to identify smooth skin in the tail region, as well as scales along the rear edge of the fins. This provided us with incomparable ideas about the appearance and biology of these extinct reptiles. “
A 4.5 m long Plesiosaur specimen, denoted MH 7, was discovered in a quarry in 1940. But it was not until the preparation of the skeleton that began in 2020 that the researchers realized that there were traces of soft tissues around the tail and right. anterior limb of the creature.
What the researchers found was a surprising mixture of skin textures that may have performed different functions in life.
Soft and hydrodynamic skin near the tail, which resembles the skin of modern breeding turtles, would have helped marine reptiles to swim quickly to catch their prey. But its squamous fins, more similar to the skin of a green sea turtle, would have helped it cross the rough seabed.
“Our findings help us to create more precise life reconstructions of the Plesiosaurs, something that has been extremely difficult since they were first studied more than 200 years ago. In addition, the German fossil well preserved really highlights the potential of soft tissues to provide valuable information about the biology of these extinct animals, “Marx explains.
Paleontologists not only discovered the texture of the skin, but the fossil had also preserved skin cells.
“In addition to the mosaic of the skin and smooth scales, it was an incredible moment to visualize the cells in thin sections of the skin of the fossilized Plesurio. I was surprised when I saw skin cells that had been preserved for 183 million years. It was almost like looking at modern skin, ”says Marx.
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