Neusticosaurus

Neusticosaurus (sometimes misspelled Neuticosaurus) ("swimming lizard"), is an extinct genus of marine reptile belonging to the pachypleurosaurs, from Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Neusticosaurus was one of the smallest nothosaurs and probably fed on small fish.

Neusticosaurus dimensions[3][4]
Species Length Mass
N. edwardsii120–125 cm (3.94–4.10 ft)5.5 kg (12 lb)
N. peyeri45–55 cm (1.48–1.80 ft)0.35 kg (0.77 lb)
N. pusillus40–52 cm (1.31–1.71 ft)0.35 kg (0.77 lb)
N. toeplitschi30–40 cm (0.98–1.31 ft)0.18 kg (0.40 lb)

Neusticosaurus
Temporal range: Middle Triassic,
Neusticosaurus pusillus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Family: Pachypleurosauridae
Genus: Neusticosaurus
Seeley, 1882
Species
  • N. edwardsii (Cornalia, 1854 [originally Pachypleura])[1]
  • N. peyeri Sander, 1989
  • N. pusillus (Fraas, 1881 [originally Simosaurus]) (type)
  • N. toeplitschi (Nopcsa, 1928 [originally Psilotrachelosaurus])
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
  • Pachypleura
    Cornalia, 1854
  • Pachypleurosaurus
    Broili, 1927 (nomen dubium)
  • Psilotrachelosaurus
    Nopcsa, 1928
Species synonymy
  • Neusticosaurus pygmaeus
    Fraas, 1896
  • Pachypleura edwardsii
    Cornalia, 1854
  • Pachypleurosaurus staubi
    Kuhn-Schnyder, 1959 (nomen dubium; junior synonym of N. pusillus)[2]
  • Psilotrachelosaurus toeplitschi
    Nopcsa, 1928
  • Simosaurus pusillus
    Fraas, 1881
Several Neusticosaurus pusillus at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Neusticosaurus edwardsii

References

  1. Cornalia, E. (1854). "Notizie zoologiche sul Pachypleura edwardsii Cor. Nuovo sauro acrodonte degli strati triasici di Lombardia". Giornale dell'istituto Lombardo di Scienze. 6: 1–46.
  2. Klein, Nicole; Furrer, Heinz; Ehrbar, Iris; Torres Ladeira, Marta; Richter, Henning; Scheyer, Torsten M. (13 July 2022). "A new pachypleurosaur from the Early Ladinian Prosanto Formation in the Eastern Alps of Switzerland". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 141 (1): 12. doi:10.1186/s13358-022-00254-2. ISSN 1664-2384. PMC 9276568. PMID 35844249.
  3. Wachtler, M. (2018). "The marine reptile Neusticosaurus from the Eastern Alps". In Watchler, M.; Perner, T. (eds.). Some new and exciting Triassic Archosauria from the Dolomites (Northern Italy). DoloMythos. p. 53. ISBN 978-88-908815-0-3.
  4. Paul, Gregory S. (2022). The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles. Princeton University Press. pp. 84–85. doi:10.1515/9780691241456. ISBN 9780691193809. S2CID 251553177.
  • Seeley, H.G. (1882). On Neusticosaurus pusillus (Fraas), an amphibious reptile having affinities with the terrestrial Nothosauria and with the marine Plesiosauria. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 38:350–366.


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