Ceresiosaurus

Ceresiosaurus
	Ceresiosaurus , live reconstruction
Temporal occurrence
	Central to Upper Triassic ( Anisium to Carnian )
	247.2 to 228 million years
Locations
	Europe ( Switzerland );
Systematics
	Sauropsida
	Diapsida
	Sauropterygia
	Nothosaur (Nothosauria)
	Nothosauridae
	Ceresiosaurus
Scientific name
	Ceresiosaurus
	Peyer , 1931
species
	C. calcagnii Peyer, 1931 ; C. lanzi Hänni , 2004 ;

Ceresiosaurus is a fossil genus of aquatic reptiles from the Middle and Upper Triassic .

Find history

The first Ceresiosaurus fossil was discovered in 1931 on Monte San Giorgio in southern Switzerland and described by the Swiss paleontologist Bernhard Peyer . By 2004 eight more specimens were found in this area. Two types are known, Ceresiosaurus calcagnii and Ceresiosaurus lanzi . The name Ceresiosaurus refers to the Ceresio , the Italian name for Lake Lugano , which is located at the foot of Monte San Giorgios.

Systematics

The genus Ceresiosaurus is classified in the group of nothosaurs . The genus itself is controversial, since there are two very similar genera, Lariosaurus (named after Lario , Lake Como ) and Silvestrosaurus . However, the structure of the limbs of Ceresiosaurus is very different from the other genera, which justifies an independent genus. Olivier Rieppel suggested that Ceresiosaurus be synonymous with Lariosaurus .

C. calcagnii fossil in the Paleontological Museum Zurich

Features & way of life

The representatives of Ceresiosaurus lived in the Middle Triassic in the Tethys lagoons in a subtropical climate. With a length of 2 to 3 meters, they were one of the largest vertebrates in this ecosystem.

Their physique was well adapted to marine life. The limbs are shaped into fins and no longer have any externally visible toes. The skull is the shortest of all nothosaurs. These properties are already very similar to those of the later plesiosaurs .

C. calcagnii is the older species and has more massive vertebral bodies. The younger species, C. lanzi, was better adapted to more open water thanks to its lighter skeleton, without thickened ribs and a shorter tail. She could dive deeper and swim faster, thereby opening up other habitats.

literature

Bernhard Peyer : The Triassic Fauna of the Ticino Limestone Alps. Volume 4: Ceresiosaurus calcagnii nov. gen. nov. spec. (= Treatises of the Swiss Palaeontological Society. Vol. 51, No. 6, ZDB -ID 210042-3 ). Birkhäuser, Basel 1931.
Karin Hänni: The genus Ceresiosaurus. Ceresiosaurus calcagnii Peyer and Ceresiosaurus lanzi n.sp. (Lariosauridae, Sauropterygia). vdf Hochschul-Verlag at the ETH, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-7281-2947-X (also: Zurich, University, dissertation, 2002: Ceresiosaurus calcagnii Peyer and Ceresiosaurus lanzi n.sp. (Lariosauridae, Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic ( Ladin) of Monte San Giorgio (Canton Ticino, Switzerland). ), Google Books .

Web links

Commons : Ceresiosaurus - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Bernhard Peyer : The reptiles from Monte San Giorgio. 1924–1944 (= quarterly publication of the Natural Research Society in Zurich. Volume 88, Supplement No. 4, ISSN 0042-5672 = New Year's Gazette. Item 146). Gebr. Fretz, Zurich 1944, online ( Memento from June 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).

^ The Paleobiology Database: Ceresiosaurus

↑ Olivier Rieppel : The status of the sauropterygian reptile genera Ceresiosaurus, Lariosaurus, and Silvestrosaurus from the Middle Triassic of Europe (= Fieldiana. Geology. NS, No. 38, 1998, ISSN 0096-2651 ). Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL 1998, digitized .

↑ Jasmina Hugi: The long bone histology of Ceresiosaurus (Sauropterygia, Reptilia) in comparison to other eosauropterygians from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland / Italy). In: Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. Vol. 130, No. 2, 2011, ISSN 1664-2376 , pp. 297-306, doi : 10.1007 / s13358-011-0023-6 .

[1] Bernhard Peyer : The reptiles from Monte San Giorgio. 1924–1944 (= quarterly publication of the Natural Research Society in Zurich. Volume 88, Supplement No. 4, ISSN 0042-5672 = New Year's Gazette. Item 146). Gebr. Fretz, Zurich 1944, online ( Memento from June 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).

[2] The Paleobiology Database: Ceresiosaurus

[3] Olivier Rieppel : The status of the sauropterygian reptile genera Ceresiosaurus, Lariosaurus, and Silvestrosaurus from the Middle Triassic of Europe (= Fieldiana. Geology. NS, No. 38, 1998, ISSN 0096-2651 ). Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL 1998, digitized .

[4] Jasmina Hugi: The long bone histology of Ceresiosaurus (Sauropterygia, Reptilia) in comparison to other eosauropterygians from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland / Italy). In: Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. Vol. 130, No. 2, 2011, ISSN 1664-2376 , pp. 297-306, doi : 10.1007 / s13358-011-0023-6 .