Scientists were able to restore the appearance of a prehistoric reptile

Prehistoric times hold many secrets. Until now, scientists are struggling with the thousands of mysteries that our planet has left for hundreds of millions of years. But recently, one of the mysteries seems to have been solved. Scientists have discovered what a reptile looked like, which lived about 240 million years ago.

From the beach to the mountains

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the territory of modern Switzerland was the beach of a large sea. Therefore, when its surface began to take shape in the mountains, all these marine fossils were scattered throughout the Alps, so that scientists had something to do in the future.

Not all fossils of millions of years of age act well. Therefore, when paleontologists found separate parts of the skeletons of a strange reptile in Italy and Holland, they succeeded in isolating it into a separate species Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi, but no one could guess exactly what they looked like.

The situation was saved by a 15-year-old find in Duncanfurg, Switzerland, at an altitude of about 2700 meters. Archaeologists have found there the skeleton of Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi in excellent condition. True, the bones of the reptile were mixed with the remnants of fish and other marine life, so the reptile was first identified as ordinary fish. And only after the skeleton was able to be removed from its perennial tomb, paleontologists realized that it was something more interesting.

Similar but not related

According to studies, the ancient reptile found died young, its length was only 20 cm, and it had scaly strong skin. By this, Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi resembles modern African lizards, although it is not genetically related to them.

Although the lizard found on Earth lived, it most likely stayed closer to the water and was closely associated with reptiles that lived in the oceans around the same time.

Excavations in Duncanburg are still ongoing. So, we are waiting for new amazing greetings from the time when the future Switzerland was washed by the sea.