Pistosaurus

Pistosaurus
Temporal range: Mid Triassic
Pistosaurus longaevus from the middle Triassic of Europe
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Superorder:
Sauropterygia
Family:
Pistosauridae
Genus:
Pistosaurus

Pistosaurus is a genus of marine sauropterygian reptiles. It is a Nothosaur, a relative of the plesiosaurs.

Pistosaurus was a advanced nothosaur-like body with a plesiosaur-like head. Is presently known only from the Middle Triassic. Even if it is a nothosaur it is acknowledged to be closely related to the ancestors of plesiosaurs.

The head also resembled that of a plesiosaur, but with the primitive palate of a nothosaur, and numerous, sharp teeth ideal for catching and eating fish.

Although it is unlikely that Pistosaurus was a direct ancestor of the plesiosaurs, the mixture of features suggests that it was closely related to that group.

References

  1. ↑ bone covering roof of mouth.
  2. 1 2 Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 73. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.