Sauropterygians were an extremely effective family tree of paddling marine reptiles that established from terrestrial forefathers right after the end-Permian termination.

These animals controlled shallow seaside seas throughout the Triassic, spreading out along the margins of the ancient Tethys Ocean.

“Sauropterygians(Sauropterygia)are a group of diapsid marine reptiles commonly dispersed in Mesozoic oceans,” stated Mei Yang, a doctoral trainee at the Hefei University of Technology, and her coworkers.

“Sauropterygians grew most throughout the Triassic, generally occupying shallow-water environments along the eastern and western Tethys coasts.”

“Traditionally, Sauropterygia made up 4 significant groups: Placodontia, Nothosauroidea, Pistosauroidea, and Plesiosauria.”

“In current years, the consistent discovery of brand-new fossil product from southwestern China– such as Atopodentatuswith its hammer-shaped jaw, and numerous genera of saurosphargids with various kinds of dorsal armor– has actually challenged standard views on the origin, migration, and advancement of sauropterygians.”

The recently explained sauropterygian types lived around 245 million years earlier throughout the Anisian age of the Triassic, a duration when ocean communities were still rebounding from the disastrous mass termination at the end of the Permian.

Called Spatulidentatus brevicepsthe marine reptile had an overall body length of around 2.7 m (9 feet).

Its jaws were lined with teeth formed like little spoons, while its skull was abnormally compact, comprising just about 5% of the body length.

The animal’s almost total and articulated skeleton was recuperated from the upper area of the Guanling Formation, a rock development straddling the border of China’s Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

Cataloged as GMG10, the fossil is housed at the Geological Museum of Guizhou.

“The specimen is maintained in lateral view, with the trunk exposed on the lateroventral surface area,” the paleontologists stated.

“The forelimbs and hindlimbs are well maintained other than for the distal parts.”

“The rostrum is brief; the atlas is indistinguishable, and a minimum of 12 cervical vertebrae are protected with strong cervical ribs.”

Based upon initial contrasts, the scientists recommend Spatulidentatus breviceps might be carefully associated to a few of the most primitive members of the sauropterygian household: the shell-crushing placodonts and the taxonomically unpredictable hammer-jawed Atopodentatus

“The Anisian Spatulidentatus breviceps from the Yunnan-Guizhou border area of southwestern China supplies brand-new product for phylogenetic research study on basal sauropterygian development,” they concluded.

The group’s paper was released in the journal Geological Review

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Mei Yang et al2026. A brand-new Sauropterygian (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) Spatulidentatus breviceps gen. et sp. nov. from Middle Triassic in border location of Yunnan and Guizhou. Geological Review 72 (4 ): 1280-1285; doi: 10.16509/ j.georeview.2025.11.052