Scientists recently uncovered an incredible 183-million-year-old plesiosaur fossil in Germany, shedding new light on its outer body features. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden discovered fossilized soft tissue, revealing that plesiosaurs had a surprising mix of smooth and scaly skin. This is a first-of-its-kind finding for these famous Jurassic-era marine reptiles.
Finding soft tissue in fossils is rare. While bones can survive for millions of years, skin and internal organs usually decay before they can fossilize. This new plesiosaur, found near Holzmaden, Germany, retained parts of its skin and flippers, allowing researchers to study features that were previously unknown.
“I was shocked when I saw skin cells that had been preserved for 183 million years,” said Miguel Marx, a Ph.D. student at Lund University and the study’s lead author. “It was almost like looking at modern skin.”
For years, many scientists thought plesiosaurs had smooth skin like contemporary marine animals such as whales. However, this new study reveals a mosaic of smooth and scaly textures, indicating that these creatures had a more complex covering than once believed. “This mosaic of scales has never been reported before in a plesiosaur,” noted Johan Lindgren, an associate professor of geology at Lund University. “Thanks to this amazing find, we now understand better what these animals looked like while alive.”
Plesiosaurs were top predators of the Jurassic period. With their long necks and powerful flippers, they could grow up to 40 feet long and thrived in ancient oceans. Their four paddle-like flippers helped them glide through the water, much like today’s sea turtles. Even though scientists have studied plesiosaurs for over two centuries, this discovery reshapes our understanding of their anatomy and adaptations.
“The discovery of scales was surprising and changes our perceptions of how these animals adapted to their ocean environment,” Marx said.
This fossil isn’t just about anatomy; it also sheds light on evolutionary development. The unexpected combination of smooth and scaly skin suggests plesiosaurs may have evolved specialized skin types to help them hunt and move efficiently in different underwater settings. “We used a variety of techniques to identify smooth skin in the tail area, and scales along the rear edge of the flippers,” Marx explained. “This gave us unique insights into the appearance and biology of these long-extinct reptiles.”
If the soft tissue hadn’t been preserved, researchers might have assumed that plesiosaurs were entirely scaleless, similar to many other marine reptiles of their time.
