Proneusticosaurus

Say it: pro-NOO-sti-KORE-us

Name means: “before Neusticosaurus”1

Ate: MeatOther sea reptilesMiddle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Proneusticosaurus was a marine reptile that swam in warm, shallow seas during the Triassic Period. It had a long neck and tail, and its bones were very dense to help it stay underwater.2

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

247 to 237 million years ago3

Middle Triassic

Fossils found in

Poland (Upper Silesia) and possibly Germany and the Netherlands3 1

Food

Meat3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Proneusticosaurus had very dense, heavy bones, especially in its legs and ribs, which helped it sink and swim underwater.2

Scientists counted seven growth rings in its thigh bone, showing it grew slowly and lived for several years.2

Its vertebrae were shaped like barrels, a condition called pachyostosis, which made its spine extra heavy.2

Proneusticosaurus is one of the oldest known eosauropterygians, a group that includes plesiosaurs.2

Only a few fossils of Proneusticosaurus have been found, and many were lost during World War II.2

AI-made picture of Proneusticosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Proneusticosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Proneusticosaurus
Named by: Volz 19023
Group: Other sea reptiles
Family / clade: Pistosauroidea3
Classification: Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 247 to 237 million years ()3
Rock formations: Wellenkalk, Gogolin3
Countries: Poland3
Fossil records: 16 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Proneusticosaurus was named by German paleontologist Wilhelm Volz in 1902, based on partial skeletons found in Poland.3 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Proneusticosaurus is the same animal as Cymatosaurus, which is known only from skulls.2

Where the facts come from

Proneusticosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Proneusticosaurus silesiacus from the Middle Triassic of Poland reveals new insights into taxonomic affinities (app.pan.pl)
Proneusticosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.