The large superpredators’ teeth from Middle Triassic of Poland

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawid Surmik ◽  
Tomasz Brachaniec
Keyword(s):  
Marine Sediments ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
Marine Reptiles

ABSTRACT An unusual large teeth, finding from time to time in marine sediments of Muschelkalk, Silesia, Poland indicate the superpredators occurrence. According to size and morphological features the teeth are similar to archosaurs or giant marine reptiles.

scholarly journals Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna V. Fleischle ◽  
P. Martin Sander ◽  
Tanja Wintrich ◽  
Kai R. Caspar
Keyword(s):  
Cell Size ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Sensory Ecology ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Canal Diameter ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Pelagic Habitat

Plesiosaurs are a prominent group of Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the more inclusive clades Pistosauroidea and Sauropterygia. In the Middle Triassic, the early pistosauroid ancestors of plesiosaurs left their ancestral coastal habitats and increasingly adapted to a life in the open ocean. This ecological shift was accompanied by profound changes in locomotion, sensory ecology and metabolism. However, investigations of physiological adaptations on the cellular level related to the pelagic lifestyle are lacking so far. Using vascular canal diameter, derived from osteohistological thin-sections, we show that inferred red blood cell size significantly increases in pistosauroids compared to more basal sauropterygians. This change appears to have occurred in conjunction with the dispersal to open marine environments, with cell size remaining consistently large in plesiosaurs. Enlarged red blood cells likely represent an adaptation of plesiosaurs repeated deep dives in the pelagic habitat and mirror conditions found in extant marine mammals and birds. Our results emphasize physiological aspects of adaptive convergence among fossil and extant marine amniotes and add to our current understanding of plesiosaur evolution.

The Triassic U–Pb age for the aquatic long-necked protorosaur of Guizhou, China

2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 749-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
YANBIN WANG ◽  
DETING YANG ◽  
JUAN HAN ◽  
LITING WANG ◽  
JIANXIN YAO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Guizhou Province ◽  
Ion Microprobe ◽  
Isotopic Age ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

AbstractThe ancient marine limestone beds of the upper part of the Guanling Formation, Panxian County, Guizhou Province, SW China, yielded a wide range of high-diversity well-preserved marine reptiles such as the fully aquatic protorosaur with an extremely long neckDinocephalosaurus orientalis, the oldest mixosaurid ichthyosaurs and lariosaurs. However, there is no precise isotopic age to study the intriguing origin, evolution and emigration history of the important fauna. We report a sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon age for a volcanic tuff bed within the upper part of the Guanling Formation. The result indicates that the age of the fossil horizon is 244.0±1.3 Ma, 14 Ma earlier than the previously estimated age based on conodont evidence. We consider that the marine reptiles had a relatively rapid evolution during Middle Triassic time, some 8 Ma after the end-Permian mass extinction.

Geochemical Methods of Inference the Thermoregulatory Strategies in Middle Triassic Marine Reptiles – A Pilot Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Dawid Surmik ◽  
Andrzej Pelc
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Southern Poland ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Oxygen Stable Isotopes ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Environmental Background

Abstract The oxygen stable isotopes investigation to elucidate thermoregulatory strategies in Middle Triassic basal sauropterygians is currently ongoing at University of Silesia and University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska. The results of similar studies on Late Mesozoic marine reptiles indicate that some of fully aquatic reptiles like plesiosaurs or ichthyosaurs could be warm-blooded animals. Our investigation is an important part of the aim of the research project "The Marine and Terrestrial reptiles in the Middle Triassic environmental background of Southern Poland" to solve the thermoregulation issue in basal marine reptiles and show how, and when did homoiothermy evolve in Sauropterygia.. Homeothermy and gigantothermy were important physiological adaptations which allowed sauropterygian ancestors to leave the shores and conquer the open seas and oceans.

The Middle Triassic marine reptile biodiversity in the Germanic Basin, in the centre of the Pangaean world

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cajus Diedrich
Keyword(s):  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Southern Germany ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
Germanic Basin ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Marine Reptile

AbstractThe Middle Triassic fossil reptile localities near Bayreuth (Bavaria, southern Germany) consist of shallow marine autochthonous glauconitic marls and terebratulid-rich tempestite carbonates of the newly defined Bindlach and Hegnabrunn formations. Single bones and incomplete skeletons of marine reptiles have been recorded in bone beds within in the Illyrian and Fassanian stages. These include the remains of the sauropterygians Neusticosaurus sp., Lariosaurus cf. buzzii [1], Nothosaurus mirabilis [2], Paranothosaurus giganteus [2], Placodus gigas [3], Cyamodus rostratus [4], Cyamodus münsteri [5], Pistosaurus longaevus [6], and ichthyosaursOmphalosaurus sp., and Shastasaurus sp. or proterosaur Tanystrophaeus conspicuus [7]. New skeletal reconstructions are based on the osteological analysis of three dimensionally preserved bones and skeletal remains. The large number of marine endemic placodont macroalgae feeders (P. gigas) in the Bayreuth sites coincides with the presence of invertebrate palaeocommunities that are characteristic of macroalgae meadow paleoenvironments. Most of the reptile species and genera from the Bayreuth localities also occur in beds of similar ages from the Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland/Italy) or Perledo (Italy) lagoonal areas. Ichthyosaurs and pistosaurs were adapted for open marine conditions, and may have migrated from the Panthalassa Oceans into the shallow marine Germanic Basin to reproduce, whereas placodonts and many other sauropterygians seem to have lived permanently in those shallow marine habitats, with large squamates and thecodont or smaller archosaurs in coastal areas.

scholarly journals An injured pachypleurosaur (Diapsida: Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic Luoping Biota indicating predation pressure in the Mesozoic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiling Liu ◽  
Tinglu Yang ◽  
Long Cheng ◽  
Michael J. Benton ◽  
Benjamin C. Moon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
The Body ◽  
West China ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Large Predator ◽  
The Right ◽  
Marine Reptile

AbstractThe Middle Triassic Luoping Biota in south-west China represents the inception of modern marine ecosystems, with abundant and diverse arthropods, fishes and marine reptiles, indicating recovery from the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. Here we report a new specimen of the predatory marine reptile Diandongosaurus, based on a nearly complete skeleton. The specimen is larger than most other known pachypleurosaurs, and the body shape, caniniform teeth, clavicle with anterior process, and flat distal end of the anterior caudal ribs show its affinities with Diandongosaurus acutidentatus, while the new specimen is approximately three times larger than the holotype. The morphological characters indicate that the new specimen is an adult of D. acutidentatus, allowing for ontogenetic variation. The fang-like teeth and large body size confirm it was a predator, but the amputated hind limb on the right side indicate itself had been predated by an unknown hunter. Predation on such a large predator reveals that predation pressure in the early Mesozoic was intensive, a possible early hint of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution.

Middle Triassic Xingyi Fauna: Showing turnover of marine reptiles from coastal to oceanic environments

Palaeoworld ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Lu ◽  
Da-Yong Jiang ◽  
Ryosuke Motani ◽  
Pei-Gang Ni ◽  
Zuo-Yu Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Oceanic Environments

Penaeoid Decapoda (Dendrobranchiata) from the Luoping Biota (Middle Triassic) of China: Systematics and Taphonomic Framework

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie E. Schweitzer ◽  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Shixue Hu ◽  
Jinyuan Huang ◽  
Changyong Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Decapod Crustacean ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Crustacean Species ◽  
Fossil Material ◽  
Three New Species

Two new genera,AnisaegerandDistaeger, and three new species,Anisaeger brevirostrus,A. spiniferus, andDistaeger prodigiosus, extend the range of the Aegeridae (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeoidea) into the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of China. Seven decapod crustacean species are now known from the Luoping biota of southern China. Morphological features of shrimp that are present but rarely mentioned in the neontological literature are recognized as potentially useful in classifying fossil material, including a diaeresis on the exopod of the uropods and multiarticulate flagellae on pleopods. Unusual taphonomic features of the shrimp include fractured cuticle, preservation in lateral, dorsal, and ventral position, and twisted cephalothoraxes.

scholarly journals A regurgitalite of the Middle Triassic (Muschelkalk) from Upper Silesia (Poland)

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Robert Niedźwiedzki ◽  
Dawid Surmik ◽  
Agnieszka Chećko ◽  
Mariusz A Salamon
Keyword(s):  
Host Rock ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Upper Silesia ◽  
Germanic Basin ◽  
Southern Poland ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Sharp Edges

A bromalite from the Middle Triassic (Muschelkalk) of southern Poland, Sadowa Góra Quarry, is herein described and interpreted as a regurgitalite. The fossils occurring within the regurgitalite are angular and have sharp edges. They are represented by common fragments of thin-shelled bivalves as well as rare crinoid and gastropod remains. The composition of the collected inclusion is different from that of the host rock. There are many candidates that could have produced the regurgitalite, including durophagous sharks, marine reptiles, the actinopterygian Colobodus, or nautiloids. Our finding adds to the emerging evidence of durophagous predation in the Triassic sea of Polish part of the Germanic Basin. It is the second record of a regurgitalite from the Muschelkalk of Upper Silesia.

scholarly journals The Luoping biota: exceptional preservation, and new evidence on the Triassic recovery from end-Permian mass extinction

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1716) ◽  
pp. 2274-2282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi-xue Hu ◽  
Qi-yue Zhang ◽  
Zhong-Qiang Chen ◽  
Chang-yong Zhou ◽  
Tao Lü ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Exceptional Preservation ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Biotic Recovery ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

The timing and nature of biotic recovery from the devastating end-Permian mass extinction (252 Ma) are much debated. New studies in South China suggest that complex marine ecosystems did not become re-established until the middle–late Anisian (Middle Triassic), much later than had been proposed by some. The recently discovered exceptionally preserved Luoping biota from the Anisian Stage of the Middle Triassic, Yunnan Province and southwest China shows this final stage of community assembly on the continental shelf. The fossil assemblage is a mixture of marine animals, including abundant lightly sclerotized arthropods, associated with fishes, marine reptiles, bivalves, gastropods, belemnoids, ammonoids, echinoderms, brachiopods, conodonts and foraminifers, as well as plants and rare arthropods from nearby land. In some ways, the Luoping biota rebuilt the framework of the pre-extinction latest Permian marine ecosystem, but it differed too in profound ways. New trophic levels were introduced, most notably among top predators in the form of the diverse marine reptiles that had no evident analogues in the Late Permian. The Luoping biota is one of the most diverse Triassic marine fossil Lagerstätten in the world, providing a new and early window on recovery and radiation of Triassic marine ecosystems some 10 Myr after the end-Permian mass extinction.

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