Category: Pistosauroidea
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Pistosaurus longaevus, vertebra, 6/UMK
Pistosaurus longaevus Middle Triassic, Upper Muschelkalk (Ladinian), Upper Silesia, Poland A beautiful specimen of a nearly complete vertebra of Pistosaurus longaevus. Interestingly, and extremely rarely, despite signs of mechanical erosion, the neural arch is preserved. The first two photos clearly show the neural canal filled with gray matrix. The well-preserved articular surfaces (facets) are slightly…
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Pistosaurus longaevus, tooth, 2/UMK
Pistosaurus longaevus Middle Triassic, Upper Muschelkalk (Ladinian), Upper Silesia, Poland Pistosaurus were an intermediate form (though not considered a direct ancestor) between Nothosaurus and Plesiosaurus. They were the first known reptiles to move by underwater flight. While nothosaurids moved primarily by twisting their trunks (like modern crocodiles), the movement of pistosaurids resembled the swimming of…
