Pistosaurus
Pistosaurus was an ancient marine reptile that lived in the Triassic Period, about 247 to 237 million years ago. It looked a bit like a plesiosaur but had a stiff backbone and used its flippers to fly underwater. It is known as the oldest 'subaquatic flying' reptile on Earth.1
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Fun facts
Pistosaurus is often mistaken for Nothosaurus or plesiosaurs, but it is a close relative of plesiosaurs from the Triassic.1
Its backbone was stiff like a plesiosaur's, so it used its paddle-like flippers to push itself through the water.1
The skull of Pistosaurus had a long, slender snout and small splint-like nasal bones that were not part of the nostril opening.1
Bone studies show that Pistosaurus had dense, heavy bones in its arms, which helped it sink and swim underwater.1
Scientists think Pistosaurus used a swimming style called 'subaquatic flying', where both left and right flippers beat together at the same time.1
Fossil evidence of decompression sickness (like the bends) in Pistosaurus forelimbs suggests it lived in open, cold marine waters.1
Most asked questions about Pistosaurus
?How big was Pistosaurus?
About 3 metres (10 feet) long.1
?What did Pistosaurus eat?
It ate fish, catching them with its numerous sharp teeth.1
?Was Pistosaurus a dinosaur?
No, it was a marine reptile called a sauropterygian, closely related to plesiosaurs.1
?When did Pistosaurus live?
It lived during the Middle Triassic Period, about 247 to 237 million years ago.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Pistosaurus is a dinosaur.
Truth: Pistosaurus is not a dinosaur. It is a marine reptile called a sauropterygian, closely related to plesiosaurs.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Pistosaurus
- Named by
- Meyer 18392
- Group
- Other sea reptiles
- Family / clade
- Pistosauria2
- Classification
- Sauropterygia2
- Age of the rocks
- 247 to 237 million years ()2
- Rock formations
- Boruszowice, Marne della Val di Centa, Trochitenkalk2
- Countries
- Germany, Poland, Italy2
- Fossil records
- 7 in the Paleobiology Database2
- Discovery
- Pistosaurus was named by German paleontologist Hermann von Meyer in 1839 based on skulls and a skeleton found in the Muschelkalk rocks of Bayreuth, Germany.21
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating exactly how Pistosaurus swam and whether its flippers were used for underwater flying in the same way as plesiosaurs.1
Where the facts come from
- Pistosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Pistosaurus 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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