Sven Sachs

A new page will be added on Monday, when our paper on a new plesiosaur genus and species from Germany is out.
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Start – Sachs Vertebrate Palaeontology Research My name is Sven Sachs and this website introduces the research of me and my colleagues in the field of palaeoherpetology (a subfield of vertebrate

I'm happy to announce my new website.
Here, you'll find PDFs of my publications, an overview of my research, and an introduction to the new taxa I have established.
I will add new content over time. I hope you'll find it informative!
Little teaser: 1/2
www.sachspal.de
#FossilFriday #paleontology

Adaptations for stealth in the wing-like flippers of a large ichthyosaur - Nature Analysis of a fossilized front flipper of the Jurassic ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus that preserves details of soft tissue indicates the presence of a serrated trailing edge that would have reduced noi...

Here’s a link to the publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Dean Lomax, Sven Sachs, and Johan Lindgren, examining the Temnodontosaurus flipper with serrated trailing edge

I'm grateful to the finder, Georg Göltz, for contacting me, allowing its description, and donating this significant specimen to the Palaeontological Museum in Nierstein. Thanks also to project leader Johan Lindgren, my co-author Dean Lomax, and to Joschua for the fantastic palaeoart! 6/7

Temnodontosaurus skull at Kloster Banz, Germany

Temnodontosaurus had the largest eyes of any vertebrate known, which support the hypothesis that this aquatic reptile hunted under low-light conditions. 5/7

Temnodontosaurus life reconstruction, showing a flipper with 'chondroderms, by Joschua Knüppe

This, together with the flipper's wing-like shape and serrated edge, collectively indicates that this morphology helped the massive animal to minimize sound production during swimming. 4/7

Temnodontosaurus flipper with soft-tissue preservation from Dotternhausen, Germany

Temnodontosaurus was the largest megapredator of the Lower Jurassic (more than 10 m long). The flipper lacks bones at the distal end, which show that the soft-tissue flipper was much longer than the bones indicate. 3/7

Chondroderms in the Temnodontosaurus flipper

The nearly 1m-long front flipper, found in 2009 by Georg Göltz in Dotternhausen, Germany, is Lower Jurassic in age. It preserves a serrated trailing edge with unique rod-like structures we've named 'chondroderms.' 2/7
#paleontology #biology #germany

Temnodontosaurus skeleton, close-up of the soft-tissue, and flipper illustration with 'chondroderms'

Big news! Our study, just out in Nature, is a game-changer for giant ichthyosaurs! We describe the first Temnodontosaurus flipper with fossilized soft tissue, giving us a unique look at how these massive creatures used stealth while hunting in darkness. 1/7
#science #news #scicomm

Temnodontosaurus skeleton in Stuttgart

Fantastic news!
I've just been informed that an important study I'm involved in is set to be published next Wednesday. This photo offers a hint at what it's about. I can't reveal more details, but our study will change the way we look at these marine animals.

Further reading: www.paleophilatelie.eu/description/...
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The specimen has initially named Peloneustes irgisensis and then became a new genus, Strongylokrotaphus. It has later been referred to Pliosaurus and is currently considered to be an indeterminate thalassophonean. The fossils are now at the Palaeontological Institute (PIN) in Moscow. 3/4

Only a partial skull, some vertebrae, and a hind limb, found in 1933 during mining operations in Savel'evsk Mine No. 1, near Gorny, Russia, were preserved. The missing elements have been added using gypsum models. The specimen was damaged during WW2 because of bad storage conditions. 2/4

I just came across this image showing 'Pliosaurus' irgisensis when on display at the Pugachevsky Regional Museum (Pugachyov, Russia) in 1941. 1/4
Source: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru...

I had a great day, doing research at the Nature Education Centre of Kraków University. Here are some photos of the Triassic archosauriform Smog wawelski that was found in Poland.
#FossilFriday #paleontology #science #research #nature

Saw this two ago in Holzmaden, Germany, where I studied an amazing plesiosaur fossil at the Urwelt-Museum Hauff.
#fossilfriday #art #germany

Having a good time at the Urwelt-Museum Hauff in Holzmaden, studying beautifully preserved Lower Jurassic plesiosaurs found in nearby quarries.
#research #science #paleontology #palaeontology

The paper, led by Jahn Hornung, can be downloaded here:
www.lwl.org/.../Geolo......
The image shows the mandibular dental plates and a reconstruction of Stoilodon lindenbergi (by Jahn Hornung). In the background is a life reconstruction of Brancasaurus brancai (by @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social).
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The species is the westernmost occurrence of Stoilodon, which is otherwise only known from Russia. S. lindenbergi was collected in the former Gerdemann clay pit that is also the type locality of the plesiosaur Brancasaurus brancai.
#paleontology #biodiversity
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The image shows the mandibular dental plates and a reconstruction of Stoilodon lindenbergi (by Jahn Hornung). In the background is a life reconstruction of Brancasaurus brancai (by Joschua Knüppe).

Please welcome Stoilodon lindenbergi

I'm happy to announce that our paper on Stoilodon lindenbergi, a new chimaeroid species from the Lower Cretaceous of #Germany, is out. We named it after the German singer Udo Lindenberg, born in Gronau in Westfalen where the specimen was found.
#science
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The new specimen is from an older individual and supports the validity of Plesiopterys wildi. Our study also opens up the possibility of endemism in Toarcian plesiosaurs. 4/4

Previous studies considered Plesiopterys to be a young individual of Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris. However, we have recently clarified in our restudy of Seeleyosaurus that these are two different forms. 3/4

The specimen from the collection of the Urweltmuseum Hauff in Holzmaden, #Germany, was found in 1940 but has been prepared only recently. It is the second fossil known of Plesiopterys wildi. The holotype is a juvenile specimen in the collection of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart. 2/4

Skeletons of Plesiopterys wildi, a plesiosaur from the Posidonia Shale, Posidonienschiefer, of Holzmaden, Germany. The upper specimen is a skeleton in the Urweltmuseum Hauff collection, the lower specimen is the holotype of Plesiopterys wildi in Stuttgart.

🚨 New plesiosaur paper 🚨
I'm pleased to announce that our paper on the plesiosaur Plesiopterys wildi has been published today in PeerJ: peerj.com/articles/189...
In our study, led by @miguelpmarx.bsky.social, we describe a new and previously undescribed specimen.
#science #research
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Sachs Vertebrate Palaeontology Research - Franconiasaurus brevispinus, a Lower Jurassic plesiosaur from Germany Main slab of the holotype of Franconiasaurus brevispinus (BT 011224.00). Collection of the Urweltmuseum Oberfranken in Bayreuth

I just added a page about the plesiosaur Franconiasaurus brevispinus, which I, @danielmadzia.bsky.social and Stefan Eggmaier described last year, to my website. I hope you will find it informative.
www.sachspal.de/franconiasau...
#FossilFriday #Research #Germany #Paleontology

Sachs Vertebrate Palaeontology Research - Microcleidus macropterus, a plesiosaur from the Yorkshire Lias Microcleidus macropterus is a plesiosauroid plesiosaur from the Lower Toarcian (Yorkshire Lias, Lower Jurassic) Alum Shale Member of the Whitby Mudstone Formation. The taxon is based on a complete and...

I wrote a little contribution about Microcleidus macropterus, a plesiosaur from Lower Jurassic of Yorkshire that is on display at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge
www.sachspal.de/microcleidus...

#science #paleontology #fossil #plesiosaur #museum #cambridge #england #yorkshire #uk

Sachs Vertebrate Palaeontology Research - Lusonectes sauvagei Lusonectes - a plesiosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Portugal

Last week I had the opportunity to study the plesiosaur Lusonectes sauvagei at the Museu Geológico in Lisbon, and I just wrote this little contribution about the fossil: www.sachspal.de/lusonectes
#fossil #paleontology #research #science #plesiosaur

Holotype of Microcleidus brachypterygius from the Posidonia Shale of Germany

This image shows the holotype of Microcleidus brachypterygius, a plesiosaur from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of Germany that is perfectly preserved and even contains fossilised remnants of soft tissue. University of Tübingen collection.
#fossilfriday #science #germany #paleontology #nature

This happened prior to fossilisation

Tail fin of Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris. Naturkundemuseum Berlin collection

We also discuss previous assignments and show that Plesiopterys wildi is not a juvenile Seeleyosaurus but a distinct genus that inhabited the Posidonia Shale during the Toarcian stage of the Lower #Jurassic.
Link to our study: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
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#ocean #life