Discovered a water “monster,” Jurassic
Scientists from Uppsala University have discovered a new species of plesiosaur Arminisaurus schuberti, which floated in the oceans of the Jurassic period, 190 million years ago. The details can be found in the journal Alcheringa.
The fossil remains were discovered in a clay pit near Bielefeld in Germany. Unfortunately, the skeleton of a plesiosaur destroyed mining equipment. Now you can recover only 40% of the bones.
Paleontologist-a lover Siegfried Schubert cleaning the bones and sent them for study to specialists. A new species of plesiosaurus was named in honor of Schubert and the ancient Germanic leader Arminius who defeated the Roman legions in the year 9 in the Teutoburg forest.
“The plesiosaurs were one of the most fearsome marine predators of the dinosaur era. For example, liopleurodon with a torso length of 15 meters is not inferior to modern sharks,” said study author Sven Sachs.
Arminisaurus schuberti is not as large, its length is about three to four meters. Probably, the predator preyed on small prey, such as fish and squid. Preserved shoulder blade are characteristic of plesiosaurs of the Cretaceous period that followed the Jurassic period.
“Up until now, almost no known preserved fossils of plesiosaurs, representing an intermediate stage of evolution between the two periods. It makes remains very important,” said Sven Sachs.