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Germanosaurus

Say it: jer-MAH-no-SORE-us
Name means: “German lizard”1
Ate: FishSea reptilesMiddle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Germanosaurus was a marine reptile that swam in warm, shallow seas during the Middle Triassic, about 247 million years ago. It had a long snout and probably used its teeth to catch fish and other slippery prey.13

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.
Lived
247 to 241 million years ago3
Middle Triassic
Fossils found in
Zakrzów, near Gogolin, Upper Silesia, Poland1
Food
Fish1
Length
2 to 3 m1
estimated from related nothosaurs

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Germanosaurus about 3 m longA dog about 1 mA bicycle about 1.8 mA car about 4.5 mAn elephant, the biggest land animal today about 6.5 m
as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 17 bananas end to end

How big was Germanosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Germanosaurus lived during the early Middle Triassic, about 247 million years ago, in what is now Poland.1

2

The first fossils of Germanosaurus were found in the Gogolin Formation, which was once a shallow sea.1

3

The type species, Germanosaurus latissimus, was originally named as a species of Nothosaurus in 1891.1

4

The original skull of Germanosaurus latissimus was lost, possibly during World War II, so scientists are not sure if it is a valid species.1

5

Another species, Germanosaurus schafferi, is considered the only valid species because its skull is still preserved.1

6

Germanosaurus had a constricted snout and a relatively short, broad rostrum, which helped it catch prey.2

AI-madeAI-made picture of Germanosaurus
An AI-made picture of how Germanosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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Scientific name
Germanosaurus
Named by
(Nopcsa 1928)3
Group
Sea reptiles
Family / clade
Nothosauridae3
Classification
Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks
247 to 241 million years ()3
Rock formations
Gogolin, Wellenkalk3
Countries
Poland3
Fossil records
2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery
Germanosaurus was named by Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa in 1928. The first species, G. latissimus, was originally described as Nothosaurus latissimus by Gürich in 1891.13
Still debated
Scientists are not sure if Germanosaurus latissimus is a valid species because its only skull was lost. Some think it might be the same as Germanosaurus schafferi.1

Where the facts come from

  1. Germanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  3. Germanosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Sea reptiles

NothosaurusSea reptilesPlacodusSea reptilesLariosaurusSea reptilesCyamodusSea reptilesCymatosaurusSea reptilesProneusticosaurusSea reptiles

Also from the same time: Middle Triassic

ChonespondylusIchthyosaursCymbospondylusIchthyosaursPhalarodonIchthyosaursMixosaurusIchthyosaursChaohusaurusIchthyosaursChensaurusIchthyosaurs
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