Illustration of the new species, Sphenodraco scandentis © Gabriel Ugueto
The new species is a relative to the living New Zealand tuatara but it would have roamed the Late Jurassic, 145 million years ago
It’s been known for decades that the ground-dwelling tuatara had long bodied aquatic relatives during the Mesozoic but this is the first relative with clear features showing it lived in trees
The find was made possible with the discovery that two fossils located in separate museums, including Natural History Museum, London, were two halves of one whole
The fossils are from the Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany - the same rock unit and location as the Archaeopteryx fossils have been found
A fossil with a case of mistaken identity for over 60 years has turned out to be a new species of Jurassic reptile. Sphenodraco scandentis is the oldest known tree-dwelling member of the rhynchocephalians, which are close relatives of modern lizards. Rhynchocephalians were once as widespread as lizards are today, but now survive only as the tuatara in New Zealand.
The discovery of Sphenodraco in the world-famous Solnhofen fossil beds, where the Archaeopteryx specimens have been found, suggests these reptiles were far more diverse than previously recognised. Understanding this diversity fills in the gaps of our understanding of the animals that ran between the feet of the dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic.
The breakthrough came when Victor Beccari, a PhD student based at the Palaeontological Museum, Munich, was researching fossil reptiles at the Natural History Museum, London. He noticed a curious similarity between a fossil in the Museum’s collection and one he’d studied at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt. It turned out they weren’t just similar, they were two halves of the same fossil, most likely split in half for higher returns when sold in the 1930s.
By combing the details preserved by both fossils, Victor and a team of scientists concluded that the animal was an extinct species new to science. Sphenodraco scandentis appears to be the earliest tree-living rhyncocephalian ever discovered.
Through a comparison with living lizards, including the other living rhynchocephalian, the tuatara (endemic to New Zealand), the researchers determined that Sphenodraco had the same elongated limbs and fingers and shorter body as modern arboreal and gliding lizards leading them to believe it would have lived among the trees of Jurassic island forests.
Despite the Solnhofen site’s reputation for well-preserved fossils, many historic rhynchocephalian specimens remain understudied, until now. Authors of this study believe that fossils labelled decades ago based on vague limb proportions may represent multiple distinct species.
Lead author, Victor Beccari, said: “The closer you look at how these animals have been studied in the past, the more you appreciate that the species aren’t that well-defined. We know that modern islands can have hundreds of species of reptiles, so there’s no reason that ancient islands wouldn’t too.”
“This study goes to show just how important museum collections are to understanding ancient diversity. Even though many of these fossils were discovered almost two centuries ago, there’s still a lot they can teach us.”
Dr Marc Jones, Curator of Fossil Reptiles and Amphibians at the Natural History Museum, a coauthor on the paper commented, “Although the area of Solnhofen has provided many beautiful complete skeletons of rhynchocephalians, their skulls are sometimes crushed or part of the skeleton are still buried in the rock. This has meant that, until recently, the Solnhofen material hasn’t contributed to our understanding as much as it should have.
“Use of micro X-ray CT and in this case UV imaging has helped clarify anatomical details. This new study also highlights the need to survey all the material available.”
The findings of this study have been published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, click here to access.
This research is part of the Evolution of Life research theme that seeks to reveal the causes and consequences of evolutionary and environmental change which is central to understanding life on Earth.
Notes for editors
Images are available here.
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