Neusticosaurus
Neusticosaurus was a tiny marine reptile that swam in warm, shallow seas during the Triassic Period. It was one of the smallest members of the nothosaur group, and it probably hunted small fish for food.1
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Fun facts
Neusticosaurus is sometimes misspelled as Neuticosaurus.1
Scientists can tell the age of a Neusticosaurus by counting growth rings in its bones, just like tree rings.2
Small species of Neusticosaurus became adults after only three to four years and lived for six to nine years.2
Neusticosaurus had different numbers of backbone bones depending on the species, which helps scientists tell them apart.2
Males and females of Neusticosaurus looked different: one sex had longer and more developed arm bones than the other.2
Fossils of Neusticosaurus have been found with embryos inside, showing how the babies grew before hatching.2
Most asked questions about Neusticosaurus
?How big was Neusticosaurus?
Neusticosaurus was very small for a marine reptile, but the sources do not give exact lengths or weights. It was one of the smallest nothosaurs.1
?What did Neusticosaurus eat?
Neusticosaurus probably fed on small fish.1
?Where did Neusticosaurus live?
Neusticosaurus lived in warm, shallow seas during the Middle Triassic in what is now Italy, Switzerland and Germany.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Neusticosaurus
- Named by
- Seeley 18824
- Group
- Sea reptiles
- Family / clade
- Pachypleurosauridae4
- Classification
- Sauropterygia4
- Age of the rocks
- 247 to 237 million years ()4
- Rock formations
- Cassina, Monte San Giorgio bituminous shales, Erfurt4
- Countries
- Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia4
- Fossil records
- 14 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- The name Neusticosaurus was given by Harry Seeley in 1882. The first species, Neusticosaurus pusillus, was originally named Simosaurus pusillus by Eberhard Fraas in 1881.14
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure which sex of Neusticosaurus had the longer arm bones, because the fossils don't show clear male or female features.2
Where the facts come from
- Neusticosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- The pachypleurosaurids (Reptilia: Nothosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland) with the description of a new species (royalsocietypublishing.org)
- Neusticosaurus (iiab.live)
- Neusticosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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