Organism · Reptiles including birds
Microcleidus brachypterygius
Source time context (not species duration) · ≈ 201–143 Ma
Inferred life reconstruction
Microcleidus brachypterygius
Overview
Microcleidus brachypterygius was a Jurassic plesiosaur with a long neck and relatively short limbs. Specimens preserving connections between the skull and the rest of the skeleton are known. They let us examine both the impression made by its long neck and its flipper-bearing body.[2]
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Key facts
A species-level revision describes 29–36 elongated neck vertebrae. The neck was not one long bone, but a series of vertebrae. Imagine the repeated small bones within its long outline.[2]
Time and place
Museum specimens are identified as Early Jurassic, Toarcian material from Ohmden in present-day Germany. They have also been compared in research on plesiosaurs from the Posidonia Shale. The Jurassic as a whole spans roughly 200–140 million years ago.[1][2][4]
The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.
Size, form and skeleton
A rounded yet constricted snout, elongated neck vertebrae and relatively short limbs are diagnostic features. The skull and postcranial bones are associated in the same type specimen. Another comparative paper also illustrates bones of this species' left hind flipper separately.[2][3]
Specimen GPIT-PV-60640 of Microcleidus brachypterygius has a reported skeletal length of 2.99 m. This individual, with its long neck and four flippers, reached about 3 m in length.[10]
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Habitat and reproduction
When comparing plesiosaur bodies, the neck and flippers raise different questions. This species is described as combining elongated neck vertebrae with short limbs. Shifting attention from the initial impression of its long neck to the connections between flipper bones gives a more three-dimensional understanding of its body.[2][3]
Fossil discovery
The Tübingen museum's specimen GPIT-PV-30094 is linked to several former collection numbers. The older genus names Plesiosaurus and Hydrorion also appear in the literature. It is an example of several names and numbers recording the research history of one fossil.[1]
References
- Tübingen Museum — Microcleidus specimen
- Study — Plesiosaurs of the Posidonia Shale
- Study — Connections between plesiosaur flipper bones
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller (2012) — High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs
- Tübingen Museum — Microcleidus specimen
- Study — Plesiosaurs of the Posidonia Shale
- Study — Pachycormus specimen containing an ammonite
- Cawley et al. (2019) — Morphology of Pachycormus
- 2025 · Comparisons of contemporaneous plesiosaurs in the Plesionectes longicollum study
Research questions
Does a change in specimen number mean that another fossil has been added? Following the museum's links between numbers reveals records that refer to the same specimen. Tracing the history of names and numbers also underpins research comparing skeletal anatomy.[1]
Observation
Follow the long neck from the snout to the trunk and four flippers. Examining the long neck alongside the short limbs makes this plesiosaur's body configuration clearer.[2]
Related organisms
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirusReptiles including birdsSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 201–143 MaComparing plesiosaur necks and flippers
Compare the necks and four flippers of Microcleidus and Plesiosaurus. Their shared identity as plesiosaurs provides a starting point for examining the different body configurations of the two species.
Pachycormus macropterusRay-finned fishesFossil record age bounds · ≈ 184–175 MaPlesiosaurs and fishes from the Toarcian of Germany
Microcleidus and Pachycormus are known from Early Jurassic, Toarcian material in present-day Germany. Connecting the long-necked plesiosaur with the fish lets you compare different bodies from the same broad time and region.