Genus
Valid Extinct

Cymatosaurus

Fritsch 1894

Cymatosaurus is an extinct genus of pistosauroid or nothosauriform sauropterygian. It is known to have been alive from the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period of Germany and they seem to originate from the Netherlands. It was small to medium-sized for an eosauropterygian, measuring 1–1.2 metres (3.3–3.9 ft) long.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
16
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Marine
Cymatosaurus
click to enlarge
Cymatosaurid eosauropterygian Cymatosaurus erikae, holotype (SMNS 10977), incomplete cranium in dorsal view from the Muschelkalk Group. Scale bar: 2 cm. © H.-D. Sues & R. R. Schoch · CC0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Eosauropterygia Order
›
Pistosauroidea Suborder
›
Cymatosaurus Genus
Fossil sites 16 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇵🇱 Poland
8
🇩🇪 Germany
5
🇫🇷 France
1
🇦🇹 Austria
1
🇳🇱 Netherlands
1
Geological formations
Wellenkalk
4
Gogolin
4
Röt
4
Jena
1
Vossenveld
1
Temporal distribution
Anisian (247–241.464 Ma)
16
Species (10)
Cymatosaurus erikae 245 Ma
Cymatosaurus erythreus nomen dubium, species not entered Cymatosaurus 247 Ma
Cymatosaurus fridericianus 247 Ma
Cymatosaurus gracilis 245 Ma
Cymatosaurus latifrons 247 Ma
Cymatosaurus minor 247 Ma
Cymatosaurus multidentatus 247 Ma
Cymatosaurus silesiacus objective synonym of Cymatosaurus latifrons 247 Ma
Proneusticosaurus madelungi 247 Ma
Proneusticosaurus silesiacus 247 Ma
Synonyms (3)
Cymatosaurus erythreus nomen dubium, species not entered Cymatosaurus
Eurysaurus subjective synonym of Cymatosaurus
Proneusticosaurus subjective synonym of Cymatosaurus
Bibliography
Original description
J. J., Jr. Sepkoski. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
Bibliography (9)
D. Surmik. 2016. Hemilopas mentzeli, an enigmatic marine reptile from the Middle Triassic of Poland revisited. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie-Abhandlungen 282(2):209-223 DOI ↗
M. W. Maisch. 2014. A well preserved skull of Cymatosaurus (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the uppermost Buntsandstein (Middle Triassic) of Germany. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie-Abhandlungen 272(2):213-224 DOI ↗
P. M. Sander, N. Klein, and P. C. H. Albers, C. Bickelmann, H. Winkelhorst. 2014. Postcranial morphology of a basal Pistosauroidea (Sauropterygia) from the Lower Muschelkalk of Winterswijk, The Netherlands. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 88:55-71 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel. 1999. Variation of cranial characters in Cymatosaurus 'gracilis' Schrammen 1899 (Reptilia, Sauropterygia), and its implications for systematics. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 73(3/4):369-375 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel and R. Wernburg. 1998. A new species of the sauropterygian Cymatosaurus from the Lower Muschelkalk of Thuringia, Germany. Palaeontology 41(4):575-589
O. Rieppel. 1997. Revision of the sauropterygian reptile genus Cymatosaurus v. Fritsch, 1894, and the relationships of Germanosaurus Nopcsa, 1928, from the Middle Triassic of Europe. Fieldiana: Geology, new series 36:1-36 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel. 1994. Osteology of Simosaurus gaillardoti and the relationships of stem-group Sauropterygia. Fieldiana: Geology, new series 28:1-85 DOI ↗
G. Corroy. 1934. Les poissons et les reptiles du Muschelkalk et du Rhetien de Basse-Provence. Bulletin de la Societe geologique de France 3, serie 5(5-6):475-483
G. Gürich. 1884. Ueber einige Saurier des obershlesischen Muschelkalkes [On some saurians from the Upper Silesian Muschelkalk]. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft 36:125-144