Nothosaurus

The best known Nothosaur is ***Nothosaurus*** (Greek for "false lizard"). It had a long, narrow snout and fang-like teeth. small teeth lined it's jaws all the way to the back of the cheek region. Eight species of nothosaurs have been found in europe and the middle east. In the early Triassic, a rise in sea levels allowed Nothosaurus to invade a shallow sea in what is now Israel. New species of *Nothosaurs* evolved there, including a specialized dwarf species, the average *Nothosaur* grew to about 3 metres (9 ft) long. It lived 240-210 MYA.

## Description

*Nothosaurus* was a semi-oceanic animal which probably had a lifestyle similar to that of today's seals. It was about 4 metres (13 ft), with long, webbed toes and possibly a fin on its tail. When swimming, *Nothosaurus* would use its tail, legs, and webbed feet to propel and steer it through the water. The skull was broad and flat, with long jaws, lined with needle teeth, it probably caught fish and other marine creatures. *Nothosaurus* hunted by sneaking up slowly on prey, such as shoals of small fish, then putting on a last-minute burst of speed. Trackways attributed, partly by process of elimination, to a Nothosaur, that were reported from Yunnan, China in June 2014, were interpreted as the paddle impressions left as the animals dug into soft seabed with rowing motions of their paddles, churning up hidden benthic creatures that they snapped up. Once caught, few animals would be able to shake themselves free from the mouth of *Nothosaurus*.

In many respects its body structure resembled that of the much later plesiosaurs, but it was not as well adapted to an aquatic environment. It is thought that one branch of the nothosaurs may have evolved into plesiosaurs such as *Liopleurodon*, a short-necked plesiosaur that grew up to 6.4 metres (21 ft), and the long-necked Cryptoclidus, a fish eater with a neck as long as 9 metres (30 ft).

## Species

There are nearly a dozen known species of *Nothosaurus*. The type species is *N. mirabilis*, named in 1834 from the Germanic Muschelkalk. Other species include *N. giganteus* (previously known as *Paranothosaurus*) from Osnabrück, Germany;[4] *N. juvenilis*, also from Germany;[5] *N. edingerae* from the Upper Muschelkalk and Lower Keuper;[6] *N. haasi* and *N. tchernovi* from Makhtesh Ramon, Israel;[7][8] *N. cymatosauroides* from the Spanish Muschelkalk;[9] *N. jagisteus* from the Upper Muschelkalk of Hohenlohe, Germany;[10] and *N. youngi*, *N. yangjuanensis* (and its junior synonym *N. rostellatus*) and the recently named *N. zhangi* from Guizhou, China.[11][12][13][14] Several species have been described from the Lower Muschelkalk in Winterswijk, the Netherlands, including *N. marchicus*[15] (and its junior synonym[16] *N. winterswijkensis*[15]) and *N. winkelhorsti*.[17] Recently, the long considered lost type material of *N. schimperi* Meyer, 1842 from the Lower Muschelkalk of Soultz-les-Bains, Alsace, France, has been rediscovered and a lectotype has been designated.[18]

Klein and Albers (2009) conducted a phylogenetic analysis, but did not test the monophyly of *Nothosaurus*, as other nothosaurids were not included in their analysis.[17]

## Diet

*Nothosaurus* lived in warm shallow seas and rivers, so it would most likely eat animals like fish and crabs, it may also have eaten eggs, a *Nothosaurus* fossil was found with a *Coelophysis* hatchling in its stomach area implying that either Coelophysis babies were extremely careless or Nothosaurs ambushed young dinosaurs either by crawling on land or ambushing them the same way crocodiles do.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* Nothosaurus makes an appearance in season 5 in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

* *Nothosaurus* makes an appearance in Jurassic World Evolution 2 via the Prehistoric Marine Species Pack released on August 10th, 2023. It's design is based on its appearance in Camp Cretaceous.