Pathological survey on Temnodontosaurus from the Early Jurassic of southern Germany.

ABSTRACT: Paleopathologies document skeletal damage in extinct organisms and can be used to infer the causes of injury, as well as aspects of related biology, ecology and behavior. To date, few studies have been undertaken on Jurassic marine reptiles, while ichthyosaur pathologies in particular have never been systematically evaluated. Here we survey 41 specimens of the apex predator ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus from the Early Jurassic of southern Germany in order to document the range and absolute frequency of pathologies observed in this taxon as a function of the number of specimens examined. According to our analysis, most observed pathologies in Temnodontosaurus are force-induced traumas with signs of healing, possibly inflicted during aggressive interactions with conspecifics. When the materia

SUBMITTER: Pardo-Perez JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6200200 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature