Triassic Period marine reptile Austronaga minuta
July 30 (Reuters) - 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 of the 245-million-year-old marine reptile Austronaga minuta, in an undated photograph in Beijing, China released on July 29, 2026. Wei Wang/Handout via REUTERS
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.
Austronaga was closely related to a reptile lineage called archosaurs that includes crocodiles, dinosaurs, the flying reptiles called pterosaurs and birds. Very few animals related to this lineage evolved a marine lifestyle — Austronaga displayed the highest degree of aquatic adaptation of any of them — though there were many other kinds of marine reptiles.
Read More Story Source
