Chinese fossil shows internal organs of prehistoric marine reptile
Paleontologists in China have discovered a 245-million-year-old marine reptile fossil that includes remarkably preserved internal organs. The find provides a rare look at the digestive tract of a Triassic-era creature, offering insights into early reptilian evolution.
Why it matters
This discovery is significant for evolutionary biology, as soft tissue preservation is extremely rare in the fossil record, especially for specimens of this age.
BEIJING: Scientists have discovered a fossil in China of a long-necked marine reptile from 245 million years ago that is so well preserved that it reveals the animal's stomach, liver and intestines, providing an unparalleled look at reptilian internal anatomy before the age of dinosaurs.
Researchers said the fossil of the Triassic Period creature Austronaga minuta was unearthed in Yunnan Province in southern China in a region that has yielded many nicely preserved fossils dating to a time of tremendous evolutionary innovation in the aftermath of Earth's worst mass extinction of species.
The fossil shows that this Austronaga individual was around 2 feet (60 cm) long, with a relatively small head and a narrow snout filled with fang-like teeth ideal for snaring slippery fish, a long neck and torso, and an even longer tail, with large front flippers and small hind flippers.
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