Nothosaur Characteristics

Nothosaurs were fish-eating reptiles that had long necks and long tails. They ranged in size from a few inches up to 22 feet. Nothosaurs had 4 paddle-like limbs with webbed fingers and toes which helped them to swim powerfully through the water. Their hinds limbs were longer than their fore limbs and their nostrils were located on the top of their long snouts. Their heads were quite small in relation to their bodies. Nothosaurs had long necks and small, flattened, elongated heads with the edge of the jaws being lined with sharp teeth that pointed outwards. Nothosaurs were capable of breathing air. Nothosaurs could walk on 4 legs.

Nothosaurs ate fish and other small swimming animals like shrimp. They fished using their sharp teeth and long snout.

Nothosaurs were similar to seals in their behaviour in that they would catch fish and squid in the water and come ashore to lay their eggs. They spent most of their time in the water where they hunted and fed.

Nothosaurs are divided into 2 suborders - the Pachypleurosaurs, tiny, primitive forms, and the true Nothosaurs, which evolved from pachypleurosaurs. Nothosaurs are ancestors to the more completely marine plesiosaurs, which replaced them at the end of the Triassic period.

Fossils have been found in what is now Europe including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Further fossils have been discovered in North Africa, China, Israel and Russia.

Examples of Nothosaurs include:

Lariosaurus - small reptiles, about 0.75 - 2 feet (20 - 60 centimetres) long. They had a shorter neck and stubbier toes than other Nothosaurs. This must have limited their swimming ability. They had a streamlined body and a long, pointed tail. Their back legs had 5 webbed toes with claws. Their front legs were paddle-like flippers. Lariosaurus ived during the middle Triassic period. Fossils from the mid-Triassic period have been found in Europe.

Ceresiosaurus - about 13 feet (4 metres) long. They had longer toes than the other Nothosaurus and more bones in each of the toes (hyperphalangy). This made the limbs very flipper-like and Ceresiosaurus must have been a very good swimmer, almost like a plesiosaur. Ceresiosaurus lived during the mid-Triassic period. Fossils have been found in Europe.

Pistosaurus - about 10 feet (3 metres) long with a very long neck, 4 long, paddle-shaped flippers, a streamlined body, and many sharp, pointed teeth in long jaws. From Europe (France and Germany) during the mid-Triassic period.

Nothosaurs were named by G. von Meunster in 1834. Juvenile (young) nothosaur fossils have been found in beach and cave sediment from Europe, Asia, and North and South Africa.