Ceresiosaurus

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title: "Ceresiosaurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nothosaurs", "triassic-sauropterygians", "middle-triassic-reptiles-of-europe", "anisian-reptiles", "sauropterygian-genera"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "general/nothosaurs" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceresiosaurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

| fossil_range = Middle Triassic, | image = Ceresiosaurus calcagnii 1.JPG | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = Ceresiosaurus calcagnii fossil | taxon = Ceresiosaurus | authority = Peyer, 1931 | type_species = Ceresiosaurus calcagnii | type_species_authority = Peyer, 1931 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

• C. calcagnii Peyer, 1931 (type)
• C. lanzi Hänni, 2004

Palaeobiology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Ceresiosaurus_lanzi_45988945.jpg" caption="''Ceresiosaurus lanzi''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Ceresiosaurus12.jpg" caption="Restoration"] ::

Ceresiosaurus was much more elongated than its relatives, reaching 3 m in length, and had fully developed flippers with no trace of visible toes. It had multiple elongated phalanges, making the flippers much longer than in most other nothosaurs, and more closely resembling those of the later plesiosaurs. Ceresiosaurus also had the shortest skull of any known nothosaur, which further increased its resemblance to plesiosaurs.

Although possessing a long neck and tail, Ceresiosaurus may not have swum by undulating its body. Analysis of the bone structure of the hips and powerful tail suggest that it instead propelled itself through the water much like a penguin. The evidence of pachypleurosaurs in the preserved stomach of Ceresiosaurus remains lend credence to the theory of it being a fast swimmer.

References

References

1. Rieppel, Olivier. (1998). "The status of the sauropterygian reptile genera ''Ceresiosaurus'', ''Lariosaurus'', and ''Silvestrosaurus'' from the Middle Triassic of Europe". Fieldiana: Geology.
2. Hugi, Jasmina. (October 2011). "The long bone histology of ''Ceresiosaurus'' (Sauropterygia, Reptilia) in comparison to other eosauropterygians from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland/Italy)". [[Swiss Journal of Palaeontology]].
3. (1999). "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals". Marshall Editions.

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