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Proneusticosaurus

Say it: pro-NOO-sti-KORE-us
Name means: “before Neusticosaurus”1
Ate: MeatSea reptilesMiddle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Proneusticosaurus was a marine reptile that swam in warm, shallow seas during the Triassic Period. It had a long neck and tail, and its bones were very dense to help it stay underwater.2

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 237 million years ago4
Middle Triassic
Fossils found in
Poland (Upper Silesia) and possibly Germany and the Netherlands41
Food
Meat4
Length
1.3 to 1.4 m23
estimated from femur length

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Proneusticosaurus about 1.4 m longA house cat about 0.5 mA dog about 1 mA bicycle about 1.8 m
as long as 3 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to end

How big was Proneusticosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Proneusticosaurus had very dense, heavy bones, especially in its legs and ribs, which helped it sink and swim underwater.2

2

Scientists counted seven growth rings in its thigh bone, showing it grew slowly and lived for several years.2

3

Its vertebrae were shaped like barrels, a condition called pachyostosis, which made its spine extra heavy.2

4

Proneusticosaurus is one of the oldest known eosauropterygians, a group that includes plesiosaurs.2

5

Only a few fossils of Proneusticosaurus have been found, and many were lost during World War II.2

AI-madeAI-made picture of Proneusticosaurus
An AI-made picture of how Proneusticosaurus 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
Proneusticosaurus
Named by
Volz 19024
Group
Sea reptiles
Family / clade
Pistosauroidea4
Classification
Sauropterygia4
Age of the rocks
247 to 237 million years ()4
Rock formations
Wellenkalk, Gogolin4
Countries
Poland4
Fossil records
16 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery
Proneusticosaurus was named by German paleontologist Wilhelm Volz in 1902, based on partial skeletons found in Poland.42
Still debated
Scientists are not sure if Proneusticosaurus is the same animal as Cymatosaurus, which is known only from skulls.2

Where the facts come from

  1. Proneusticosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. Proneusticosaurus silesiacus from the Middle Triassic of Poland reveals new insights into taxonomic affinities (app.pan.pl)
  3. app008502020 (app.pan.pl)
  4. Proneusticosaurus 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 reptilesSimosaurusSea reptiles

Also from the same time: Middle Triassic

ChonespondylusIchthyosaursCymbospondylusIchthyosaursPhalarodonIchthyosaursMixosaurusIchthyosaursChaohusaurusIchthyosaursChensaurusIchthyosaurs
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