Excellent Mesosaurus Aquatic Reptile Skeleton

This is a fine example of the aquatic reptile known as Mesosaurus. The mesosaurs were one of the first reptiles to return to the water after the amphibians began to leave that environment. With webbed feet and a streamlined body, they were well suited for a return to the water. The long jaws were equipped with numerous fine teeth which some thought may have served as a sieve for planktonic life. I think a piscivorous habit to be more likely, The mesosaurs have an interesting distribution in that they are found both in South America and Africa. How did a freshwater organism cross the vast ocean separating these two landmasses? This discontinuous distribution was one of the factors that brought about the theory of continental drift first proposed by Alfred Wegener in the 1920s.

This specimen is nearly complete, missing only the right lower forelimb elements and the distal part of that upper arm bone. It is quite 3-D in preservation as the photos show. While such specimens were sometimes available some ten years ago, they have become increasingly hard to obtain, except from old collections such as this one. This specimen would make a fine addition to any collection, whether public or private.