Recent research published in Current Biology details the first analysis of plesiosaur soft tissue, shedding light on their external appearance. It suggests that certain plesiosaurs possessed humanlike skin on their tails and scaly flippers, contrasting with other ancient marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs. This breakthrough results from examining preserved soft tissues from a 183-million-year-old specimen, revealing colorful details previously unknown. The findings provide a crucial update to the understanding of plesiosaurs, altering longstanding perceptions of their evolutionary adaptations to ocean living and demonstrating an unexpected evolutionary pathway.
The analysis of plesiosaur soft tissue suggests some had humanlike skin on tails and fishy scales on flippers, contradicting previous reconstructions that lacked such details.
This significant update in plesiosaur research changes our understanding of their evolutionary history and highlights their adaptations to marine life over millions of years.
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