恐龍卡第 1478 張，共 2 027 張

Prosantosaurus

名字的意思： “Prosanto lizard, named after the Prosanto Formation where it was found”1

吃：肉海生爬蟲類三疊紀中期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Prosantosaurus was a small, lizard-like marine reptile that swam in the warm seas of the Middle Triassic, about 241 million years ago. It had a long body and tail, and probably hunted small fish and crustaceans. It was not a dinosaur, but a relative of plesiosaurs.1 3

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

241 到 239 百萬年前3

三疊紀中期

化石發現地

Ducanfurgga locality, near Davos, Canton of Grisons, eastern Switzerland1 3

長度

0.5 m (1.6 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 4 公里（2 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 3 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長跟 16 塊積木排成一排一樣長能在 45 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Prosantosaurus 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡算算數學。什麼都不會被儲存或傳送出去。

牠有多快？

Prosantosaurus 時速約 4 公里 (2 mph)

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Prosantosaurus could regrow its teeth if they broke off. This was seen for the first time in a European pachypleurosaur.1

Its teeth were less pointed and broader at the base compared to other pachypleurosaurs.1

The fossils were found at about 2700 metres above sea level in the Swiss Alps, but back then this area was covered by the Tethys Ocean.1

Six nearly complete skeletons and an isolated skull were discovered, which is a lot for such an ancient marine reptile.2

Prosantosaurus lived about 241 million years ago, during the early Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic.1 2

It is the sister taxon to a group that includes Serpianosaurus, Proneusticosaurus, and Neusticosaurus species.2

Prosantosaurus 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Prosantosaurus 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

迷思破解王

迷思： Some people might think Prosantosaurus was a dinosaur because it lived in the Triassic and looked like a small reptile.

真相： Prosantosaurus was a marine reptile called a pachypleurosaur, part of the group Sauropterygia, which is not dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were land reptiles with a different hip structure.1 3

給恐龍專家

學名: Prosantosaurus
命名者: Klein et al. 20223
類群: 海生爬蟲類
科 / 演化支: Pachypleurosauria3
分類: Sauropterygia3
岩石的年代: 241 到 239 百萬年 (Ladinian)3
岩層: Prosanto3
國家: 瑞士3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆3
發現: Prosantosaurus was named in 2022 by Nicole Klein and colleagues from skeletons found in the Prosanto Formation in Switzerland. The species name scheffoldi honours Beat Scheffold, a scientific illustrator who helped with the research.1 3
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating how pachypleurosaurs migrated across the Tethys Ocean, and whether Prosantosaurus's tooth replacement pattern is unique among European pachypleurosaurs.2