Nothosaurus specialist needed

[Mcmaker]

Hi! I recently bought "so called" Nothosaurus vertebra, but seller didn't have any proof of origin of the specimen. 

Could you confirm that this is a Nothosaurus vertebra?

 

It was found in triassic site in Silesia, Poland.

 

Another question. Why this bones are do small? Could it be a juvenille reptile or example of a smaller species?

 

 

[ziggycardon]

@sander might be able to help  

[sander]

it is only the Neural arch of a dorsal/sacral vertebra, no the entire vertebra.

From which location did it come?

that might help in assigning a genus, but I think that that will already be difficult. 

There are a lot of genera of which the neural spines are not known.

That said, it does look like the Eosauropterygian neural arches I have.

Kind regards,

Sander

[Mcmaker]

@sander Thanks a lot! It came from Dąbrowa Górnicza, that's all I know.

 

Is it worth to preparate deeper or that visible fragment is a whole fossil?

[sander]

the small fragment seems to be prepped out completely. the neural arch might still have one corner underneath the stone, marked in red here.

I do not know that location, so I have to do some research into that.

Kind regards,

Sander

[sander]

It seems that from that location there is not yet published.

I can only find this preliminary sldieshow, that does not mention the exact age, or the sepcies found there.

It does however mention that there are two quarries in that village. There might even be differences between the two quarries, so unfortunately I cannot say anything about the fossil other than that the size reminds me of of the small pachypleurosaur vertebrae (like Anarosaurus or Dactyliosaurus) but which species there are to be found at this location I do not know.

But as you said, it might be a juvenile neural arch. you might see if it is a full grown or juvenile by looking at the two points where the vertebra centrum would have been attached to the neural arch. if you see wrinkly lines it is a juvenile, if it is just broken off it is was an adult. The problem is that these two points are still in the stone, on the exact opposite side of what you can now see. And even if you can see them, the neural arch might be too rolled to actually see what the case is.

So to conclude: I think it is an Eosauropterygian neural arch. might be from an adult Pachypleurosaurid, or from a juvenile Pistosauroid or Nothosauroid. Other animals might be an option too however, but it does look most similar to an Eosauropterygian neural arch.

to find out which genuses and species fall under Eosauropterygians look at the cladogram over here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropterygia

 

Your best option to find out more is to contact one of the authors of the slideshow.

 

By the way, I do not yet have any fossil from this location, and I would like to have a tooth from there, does your source perhaps have more fossils?

Kind regards,

Sander

 

 

 

 

[Mcmaker]

@sander Thank you for vast informations  I contacted the seller and he told me specific location where this fossil was found - Ząbkowice Dolomite Quarry. Soon I'll go for hunting trip to that specific quarry and we'll see how it'll turn out

 

Unfortunately, he don't have any tooth fossils for sell.

[sander]

@Mcmaker No problem!

Good luck and let me know what you found!

Kind regards,

Sander