Skin, scales, and cells in a Jurassic plesiosaur
Plesiosaurs are an iconic group of Mesozoic marine reptiles with an evolutionary history spanning over 140 million years (Ma).1 Their skeletal remains have been discovered worldwide; however, accompanying fossilized soft tissues are exceptionally rare.2 Here, we report a virtually complete plesiosaur from the Lower Jurassic (∼183 Ma)3 Posidonia Shale of Germany that preserves skin traces from arou