The groundbreaking discovery of plesiosaur bones helps 'tell us the story of what this part of Texas was like during the Jurassic.'
An artist’s interpretation depicts a Jurassic plesiosaur. Fossils from a plesiosaur discovered in West Texas are the only fossils from a Jurassic vertebrate found and described in the state., scientists led by the University of Texas found Jurassic vertebrate fossils.news release last week
. The marine reptile would have swum a shallow sea covering what is now northeastern Mexico and far western Texas about 150 million years ago. Scientists found the bones in the Malone Mountains of West Texas over two fossil-hunting missions. Steve May, research associate at UT Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences Museum of Earth History, led the expeditions.
"There are Jurassic vertebrates out there," May said in a statement."We found some of them, but there's more to be discovered that can tell us the story of what this part of Texas was like during the Jurassic." Prior to this discovery, the only fossils found in Texas dated to the Jurassic came from marine invertebrates. Those include ammonites and snails. May said the fossils show proof that Jurassic bones can be found in Texas.An artist’s interpretation depicts a Jurassic plesiosaur. Fossils from a plesiosaur discovered in West Texas are the only fossils from a Jurassic vertebrate found and described in the state.
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