Kolposaurus

Nothosaurus Temporal range: 240–210 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Early to Late Triassic
Nothosaurus skeleton restoration in Berlin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Nothosauroidea
Family:	†Nothosauridae
Subfamily:	†Nothosaurinae Nopcsa, 1923
Genus:	†Nothosaurus Münster, 1834
Type species
†Nothosaurus mirabilis Münster, 1834
Species
N. cymatosauroides Sanz, 1983 N. edingerae Schultze, 1970 N. giganteus Münster, 1834 N. haasi Rieppel et al., 1997 N. jagisteus Rieppel, 2001 N. juvenilis Edinger, 1921 N. marchicus Koken, 1893 N. mirabilis Münster, 1834 (type) N. rostellatus Shang, 2006 N. tchernovi Haas, 1980 N. winkelhorsti Klein and Albers, 2009 N. yangjuanensis Jiang et al., 2006 N. youngi Li and Rieppel, 2004 N. zhangi Liu et al., 2014
Synonyms
Genus synonymy Conchiosaurus Meyer, 1834 Chondriosaurus Meyer, 1838 Dracosaurus Agassiz, 1846 Elmosaurus Huene, 1957 Kolposaurus Skuphos, 1893 Menodon Meyer, 1838 Oligolycus Fristch, 1894 Opeosaurus Meyer, 1847 Paranothosaurus Peyer, 1939 Shingyisaurus Young, 1965 Species synonymy Elmosaurus lelmensis Huene, 1957 Nothosaurus blezingeri Fraas, 1896 Nothosaurus schimperi Meyer, 1834 Nothosaurus angustidens Meyer, 1844 Shingyisaurus unexpectus Young, 1965 Synonyms of N. giganteus: Nothosaurus andriani Meyer, 1839 Nothosaurus angustifronis Meyer, 1844 Nothosaurus aduncidens Meyer, 1853 Nothosaurus baruthicus Geissler, 1895 Nothosaurus chelydrops Fraas, 1896 Paranothosaurus amsleri Peyer, 1939 Synonyms of N. marchicus: Conchiosaurus clavatus Meyer, 1834 Nothosaurus crassus Schroeder, 1914 Nothosaurus friedericanus Jaekel, 1911 Nothosaurus oldenburgi Schröder, 1914 Nothosaurus procerus Schröder, 1914 Nothosaurus raabi Schröder, 1914 Nothosaurus schroderi Huene, 1944 Nothosaurus venustus Münster, 1834 Nothosaurus winterswijkensis Albers and Rieppel, 2003 Synonyms of N. mirabilis: Dracosaurus bronni Giebel, 1847 Ichthyosaurus lunevillensis Alberti, 1837 Nothosaurus bergeri Meyer, 1834 Nothosaurus muensteri Meyer, 1839

Synonyms of N. giganteus:

Synonyms of N. marchicus:

Synonyms of N. mirabilis:

Nothosaurus ("false lizard", from the Ancient Greek nothos (νόθος), "illegitimate", and sauros (σαῦρος), "lizard") is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 240-210 million years ago, with fossils being distributed from North Africa and Europe to China. It is the best known member of the nothosaur order.

A complete skeleton of the species Nothosaurus raabi, now a synonym of N. marchicus, can be seen in the Natural History Museum in Berlin.

Nothosaurus was a semi-oceanic animal which probably had a lifestyle similar to that of today's seals. It was about 4 metres (13 ft), with long, webbed toes and possibly a fin on its tail. However, some species such as N. zhangi and N. giganteus were larger, up to 5–7 metres (16–23 ft). When swimming, Nothosaurus would use its tail, legs, and webbed feet to propel and steer it through the water. The skull was broad and flat, with long jaws, lined with needle teeth, it probably caught fish and other marine creatures. Nothosaurus hunted by sneaking up slowly on prey, such as shoals of small fish, then putting on a last-minute burst of speed. Trackways attributed, partly by process of elimination, to a nothosaur, that were reported from Yunnan, China in June 2014, were interpreted as the paddle impressions left as the animals dug into soft seabed with rowing motions of their paddles, churning up hidden benthic creatures that they snapped up. Once caught, few animals would be able to shake themselves free from the mouth of Nothosaurus.

In many respects its body structure resembled that of the much later plesiosaurs, but it was not as well adapted to an aquatic environment. It is thought that one branch of the nothosaurs may have evolved into plesiosaurs such as Liopleurodon, a short-necked plesiosaur that grew up to 6.4 metres (21 ft), and the long-necked , a fish eater with a neck as long as 1.3 metres (4.3 ft).

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