A 2024 description of a fossil nothosaur vertebra from the Anisian of New Zealand indicates that nothosaurs dispersed worldwide from their region of origin in the northern Tethys much earlier than presumed, eventually reaching the southern polar region of Panthalassa by the Middle Triassic. This vertebra is the oldest sauropterygian fossil from the Southern Hemisphere, and appears to be from a ...
Nothosaurus, (genus Nothosaurus), marine reptiles found as fossils from the Triassic Period (251 million to 200 million years ago) in southwestern and eastern Asia, North Africa, and especially Europe. Nothosaurus was characterized by a slender body, long neck and tail, and long limbs. Although the
Explore Nothosaurs: the Triassic marine reptiles whose unique appearance, coastal habitat, and specialized diet bridged the gap to the great ocean predators.
Final notes of the Nothosaurus The Nothosaurus is the archetypal nothosaur. It was present in larger numbers during the prime of its existence. It was an intermediate species between terrestrial and aquatic organisms and hence scientists are keen to study it even today.
Nothosaurus is the most well known nothosaur to exist. It had a long narrow snout coupled with a long neck and fang-like teeth. Small teeth lined its jaws all the way to the back of the cheek region. It had longer pointy teeth in the front of its snout and smaller teeth at the back of its jaw.
Nothosaur-like reptiles were in turn ancestral to the more completely marine plesiosaurs, which replaced them at the end of the Triassic period. In their 2024 description of Dianmeisaurus mutaensis, Hu, Li & Liu recovered the Nothosauroidea as the sister taxon to the Pachypleurosauria.