A rare fossil from Germany preserves traces of a plesiosaur’s skin from about 183 million years ago. The reported pattern is not entirely smooth: the tail region had smooth skin, while small scales lined the rear edge of a front flipper. Researchers have suggested these textures may have helped with swimming and movement over the seabed, but those functions remain interpretations rather than directly observed behavior.
What animal did the fossil come from?
The fossil belongs to a plesiosaur, a long-necked marine reptile—not a dinosaur and not a literal sea monster. It was found near Holzmaden, Germany, in the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale and is approximately 183 million years old. The specimen and its age are described in the 2025 study, “Skin, scales, and cells in a Jurassic plesiosaur”.
What did researchers find on its skin?
The study reports two different textures on the preserved soft-tissue traces: smooth skin around the tail and small scales along the rear edge of a front flipper. That means the fossil offers evidence for a mixed skin pattern in this individual, rather than support for the idea that every part of its body was either wholly smooth or wholly scaled.
Lund University’s 7 February 2025 account of the study says researchers also visualized preserved skin cells in thin sections of the fossil. These are ancient fossilized structures, not living or viable cells, and the finding is not evidence that DNA was recovered. The university release describes the observation and quotes lead author Miguel Marx, a geology PhD student: “Apart from the mosaic of smooth skin and scales, it was an incredible moment to visualize the cells in thin sections of the fossilized plesiosaur’s skin. I was shocked when I saw skin cells that had been preserved for 183 million years. It was almost like looking at modern skin.”
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What might the different textures have done?
Researchers suggest smooth skin may have helped the animal swim efficiently, while scales along the rear edge of the flippers may have helped it move over rough seabeds. These are functional explanations for the observed pattern, not direct evidence of how the animal moved or proof that the textures had those effects. The fossil preserves skin traces; it does not show the plesiosaur swimming.
What can this fossil tell us about plesiosaurs?
Soft-tissue traces are exceptionally rare, so this specimen offers an unusual view of the external surface of a plesiosaur. Its combination of smooth tail skin and scaled flipper edges is evidence about this individual. It does not establish that all plesiosaurs had the same skin pattern, and it cannot by itself settle how the textures affected swimming or seabed movement. Lund University summarizes the findings and the team’s cautious functional interpretation in its research release published 7 February 2025.
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