Simosaurus gaillardoti was a marine reptile that lived in shallow tropical seas covering much of what is now Europe and the Middle East, about 242-235 million years ago.

It was part of the nothosaurian lineage, a group of semi-aquatic sauropterygians that were widespread throughout the Triassic seas before the rise of the more fully marine plesiosaurs.

Growing up to around 4m long (~13'), Simosaurus had a flat short-snouted skull and rather thick blunted teeth, along with jaw musculature adapted for a quick strong snapping bite — suggesting it specialized in crushing tough prey like shelled cephalopods and hard-scaled fish.

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Calci's Natural History Museum, University of Pisa

Temporary exhibition

Pt.2

Most gorgeous Spinosaurs model I've seen.

lijiangosaurus yongshengensis a recently discovered long-necked nothosaur from middle Triassic China.

The image depicting four nothosaur species known from the same area as lijiangosaurus (central and the largest nothosaur in the image); the other nothosaurs are nothosaurus yangjuanensis, n. luopingensis, brevicaudosaurus jiyangshanensis, and lariosaurus hongguoensis

A new assortment of strange and lovely creatures!

Ferenceratops shqiperorum

Zalmoxes robustus

Nothosaurus fortihumeralis

Sinosauropteryx lingyuanensis

Eosteroptyx discoidalis

Cyclothone mukhachevae

Paravinciguerra praecursor

Staurocephalus murchisoni

Eragrocites changii