Jabalisaurus tethyensis, new ichthyosaur species from Late Jurassic of Germany (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Aug 3, 2026, 1:15:03 PM (3 days ago) Aug 3
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Ben Creisler
A new paper:
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Jabalisaurus tethyensis sp. nov.
Erin E. Maxwell, Jule Neumann, and Giovanni Serafini (2026)
Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs from southern Germany.
Palaeontologia Electronica 29(2): a30
doi: https://doi.org/10.26879/1676
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2026/5919-late-jurassic-ichthyosaurs-from-germany
Free pdf:
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/1676.pdf
The Tithonian (Late Jurassic) represents a high point in ichthyosaurian taxonomic diversity, although ecomorphological disparity is not correspondingly high. Numerous fossil lagerstätte from a range of palaeolatitudes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are thought to be responsible for the high observed generic diversity during this time interval; however, faunal provincialism has also been proposed as a driver. Here, we re-evaluate the ichthyosaur fauna of the German Plattenkalk deposits and provide a revised estimate for taxonomic diversity from these fossil lagerstätten. Unlike coeval lagerstätten, only a single accepted ichthyosaurian genus from the Late Jurassic of Germany, Aegirosaurus leptospondylus, has been described to date, suggesting considerable undersampling. Here, we describe a second genus from these deposits, Jabalisaurus tethyensis sp. nov., based on material previously included within Aegirosaurus. New observations provide additional details on the osteology, soft tissue morphology, and diet in J. tethyensis. Jabalisaurus was previously known only from the Late Jurassic of Mexico. The presence of this genus in Europe leads us to reject the faunal provincialism hypothesis, and suggests instead the existence of a unique Peri-Tethyan ichthyosaurian fauna, distinct from both the Boreal/sub-Boreal and Eastern Pacific faunas and potentially controlled by climatic variables.
Jabalisaurus tethyensis sp. nov.
Erin E. Maxwell, Jule Neumann, and Giovanni Serafini (2026)
Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs from southern Germany.
Palaeontologia Electronica 29(2): a30
doi: https://doi.org/10.26879/1676
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2026/5919-late-jurassic-ichthyosaurs-from-germany
Free pdf:
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/1676.pdf
The Tithonian (Late Jurassic) represents a high point in ichthyosaurian taxonomic diversity, although ecomorphological disparity is not correspondingly high. Numerous fossil lagerstätte from a range of palaeolatitudes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are thought to be responsible for the high observed generic diversity during this time interval; however, faunal provincialism has also been proposed as a driver. Here, we re-evaluate the ichthyosaur fauna of the German Plattenkalk deposits and provide a revised estimate for taxonomic diversity from these fossil lagerstätten. Unlike coeval lagerstätten, only a single accepted ichthyosaurian genus from the Late Jurassic of Germany, Aegirosaurus leptospondylus, has been described to date, suggesting considerable undersampling. Here, we describe a second genus from these deposits, Jabalisaurus tethyensis sp. nov., based on material previously included within Aegirosaurus. New observations provide additional details on the osteology, soft tissue morphology, and diet in J. tethyensis. Jabalisaurus was previously known only from the Late Jurassic of Mexico. The presence of this genus in Europe leads us to reject the faunal provincialism hypothesis, and suggests instead the existence of a unique Peri-Tethyan ichthyosaurian fauna, distinct from both the Boreal/sub-Boreal and Eastern Pacific faunas and potentially controlled by climatic variables.
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