A 183-million-year-old plesiosaur fossil, dubbed MH7, unearthed in Germany has provided scientists with a rare glimpse into the soft tissues of these extinct marine reptiles. Analysis revealed the presence of small scales on the flippers, a surprising discovery that challenges previous assumptions about plesiosaur skin.
Millions of years ago, a long-necked marine predator with flippers dominated the seas. Plesiosaurs were marine reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs and went extinct at the same time as them.For the first time ever, scientists have gotten a detailed look at its soft tissue , revealing a surprising secret about its skin. This plesiosaur fossil was unearthed from a quarry near Holzmaden in Germany way back in 1940. But its journey to scientific discovery was a long one.
They dissolved the sections in the minerals to isolate the organic remains and enable the microscopic study of the preserved tissue structure.This provided a microscopic glimpse into the plesiosaur’s skin and found it wasn’t entirely smooth-skinned, as previously thought.The examination indicates that some plesiosaurs possessed both smooth skin on their bodies and small scales on their flippers — like those found on modern sea turtles.
Plesiosaurs Fossils Marine Reptiles Soft Tissue Evolution
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