Its name is Trachelosaurus fischeri. It is the oldest marine reptile in the world. An international team of paleontologists investigated a 247 million-year-old fossil originating from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The results are in the Swiss Journal of Palaeontology.
Trachelosaurus fischeri was already discovered in the 19th century in Germany. It was later added to the collection of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. The specimen is currently on loan at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart. The specialists went there to examine him.
incomplete skeleton
With a neck of half a meter, Trachelosaurus fischeri was first described in a 1918 publication. Controversy persisted over what type of reptile this fossil actually represented. This is because Trachelosaurus fischeri has a unique anatomy, including an unusually large number of vertebrae. The fossil was not very well preserved. The skeleton is incomplete and its remains are scattered throughout the rock in which it was preserved.
They investigated Chinese fossils of the long-necked marine reptile Dinocephalosaurus in parallel. This is how the mystery of Trachelosaurus fischeri was solved. Anatomy shows us that it is closely related to Dinocephalosaurus. «Trachelosaurus fischeri is the first fossil of this group of reptiles found outside of China. It is also the oldest long-necked marine reptile known to date,” says Dr. Stephan Spiekman. He is an expert on this group of animals at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart.
Scientists suspect that Trachelosaurus fischeri was washed into shallow waters 247 million years ago. In the rock in which the fossil is preserved, footprints of land animals are also preserved.
Revisiting old fossils
The discovery and its re-evaluation are another step towards a better understanding of the marine ecosystems of the early Triassic. The history of the fossil shows the importance of historical museum and university collections for natural history research.
It is an added advantage of new discoveries coming from different parts of the world. They allow scientists to periodically reinterpret what was already discovered many years, sometimes even centuries ago. The oldest marine reptile in the world is one of them.
