[Rockhounds] Ancient Sea Monster’s Skin Reveals Surprising Swimming Secret

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

A remarkable discovery of 183-million-year-old skin has revealed that
ancient marine reptiles known as plesiosaurs possessed a previously unknown
adaptation – a combination of smooth and scaly skin that likely gave them
an edge both in swimming and navigating the ocean floor.

The analysis, published in Current Biology
<https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00001-6>,
marks the first detailed examination of plesiosaur soft tissue, offering
unprecedented insights into how these long-necked marine predators moved
through prehistoric seas.

The specimen, discovered near Holzmaden, Germany, has been preserved in
remarkable detail, even retaining cellular structures that have survived
since the Early Jurassic period. Using advanced microscopic and
spectroscopic analyses, researchers identified both smooth tail skin and
small, triangular scales on the flippers.

https://scienceblog.com/ancient-sea-monsters-skin-reveals-surprising-swimming-secret/