Plesiosaurus teeth from the Owadów-Brzezinka site

Plesiosaurus teeth from the Owadów-Brzezinka site

The Owadów-Brzezinki quarry is one of the most important paleontological sites in Poland, known from its exceptionally well-preserved Late Jurassic fossils of marine and terrestrial organisms, including xiphosurans, insects numerous vertebrates such as ray-finned fishes, turtles, crocodylomorphs and ichthyosaurs. One of the newest findings from the site is large, curved teeth with prominent grooves. representing a new group of vertebrates from Owadów-Brzezinki – plesiosaurs. General morphology, stratigraphic context, and morphometric analysis indicate that these teeth belong to a representative of the Plesiosauroidea, probably from the family Cryptoclididae.

Figure: Lithological succession of the Owadów-Brzezinki Quarry; plesiosaur tooth ZPAL R.11/OB/T4; reconstruction: Stanisław Kugler.

PUBLICATION: Weryński Ł, Błażejowski B. 2023. Late Jurassic teeth of plesiosauroid origin from the Owadów-Brzezinki Lägerstatte, Central Poland. PeerJ 11:e15628, doi:10.7717/peerj.15628