#pleurosaurus

[si-nequal-is]

Alcmonavis poeschli kills Pleurosaurus goldfussi

[dinodanicus]

A lone pleurosaurus basks near the water surface before returning to the shallows to hunt small fish.

[alphynix]

The modern tuatara is the only living representative of an entire major lineage of reptiles known as sphenodontians – an evolutionary "cousin" group to all lizards and snakes, last sharing a common ancestor with them over 240 million years ago.

And during the Triassic and Jurassic these lizard-like animals were a widespread and diverse bunch, found worldwide and occupying many of the ecological roles that were later taken over by true lizards. They ranged from tiny insectivores to omnivores, relatively large herbivores, and specialized shell-crushers – and some even adapted to a fully aquatic fish-eating lifestyle.

Pleurosaurus ginsburgi here lived during the Late Jurassic, about 150-145 million years ago, in the warm shallow seas and lagoons that covered most of Europe at that time. Fossils of this particular species are known from southern France, with the closely related Pleurosaurus goldfussi found in both the same region and the German Solnhofen Limestone.

These swimming sphenodontians could grow to around 1.5 in length (~5'), with elongated bodies, pointed triangular snouts with retracted nostrils, short flipper-like forelimbs, and especially long eel-like tails. Soft tissue impressions also show scaly skin covering their bodies and a "frill" running along the top of the tail.

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[252mya]

Pleurosaurus sp.

Artwork by Julio Lacerda / @paleoart

The pleurosaurs are extinct aquatic relatives of the modern Tuatara, a lizard-like reptile that lives in New Zealand. They had long, serpentine bodies, small limbs and a very powerful tail for swimming.

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252MYA creates custom-made artwork for private collections and editorial, scientific, or educational project.

[si-nequal-is]

Alcmonavis poeschli kills Pleurosaurus goldfussi

[eartharchives]

Pleurosaurus, the Jurassic marine-dwelling relative of the tuatara

Of all the prehistoric reptile groups, few are given as much disservice as the sphenodonts. Currently represented only by New Zealand’s iconic tuatara, these animals were once widespread, living on most continents. Some, like Homoeosaurus, are even a darling of prehistory books, almost always portrayed as tuatara clones.

The extinct relatives of the tuatara belonged to a very diverse group of reptiles. One particular animal once swam in the seas that are now Europe, a world away from its modern counterpart.

Image credit: @paleoart

[palaeopedia]

The sideways lizard, Pleurosaurus (1831)

Phylum : Chordata Class : Reptilia Order : Sphenodontia Family : Pleurosauridae Genus : Pleurosaurus Species : P. goldfussi

Late Jurassic (150 Ma)

60 cm long (size)

Bavaria, Germany (map)

Technically speaking, the marine reptile Pleurosaurus was a sphenodont--which places it so far outside the mainstream of reptilian evolution that its sole living descendant is the Tuatara of New Zealand. Pleurosaurus was about as close as a creature could get to the classic snake or eel body plan without actually being a snake or eel; it had a narrow, pointed snout, stubby arms and legs, and an extremely long tail (with an unusually large number of vertebrae). Oddly enough, the nostrils of Pleurosaurus were set closer to its eyes than to its snout, an adaptation that presumably helped it to hunt prehistoric fish in the shallow lakes of late Jurassic western Europe.