In a new publication in
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, the scientists also describe finds of Early Triassic reptiles (prolocophonids), also originating from the Holy Cross Mountains.
The research was conducted by Dr. Tomasz Sulej and Professor Marcin Machalski (Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences) and Dr. Mateusz Tałanda from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw.
The fossils were found in the 1980s in a decommissioned quarry in Stryczowice, Świętokrzyskie province (southern Poland), by Prof. Machalski.
Recent research showed that the remains of vertebrates found in Stryczowice, which had not been described before, were the parasphenoid (skull) bone of a Trematosaurus and a prolocophonid jaw.
“These small finds are of great scientific importance. Previously, we only suspected that trematosaurs could have inhabited the areas of today's Poland (for example, at the palaeontological site in Wióry in the Świętokrzyskie province we found several teeth that could have belonged to them), but only this bone is a proof that this was actually the case,” said Dr. Sulej.
The bone is 5-6 cm long and is embedded in a piece of sandstone. “We have shown that it is the parasphenoid bone of Trematosaurus.
These were very unique amphibians, because their evolution shows the gradual lengthening of the skull and narrowing of the snout, which can be observed today, for example, in gharials,” the palaeobiologist added.
Fossils of these amphibians are already known from Germany and Russia (and from Africa). “However, our bone is different from those two examples. We may be dealing with an intermediate form. I hope that further discoveries will provide answers regarding the evolution of these amphibians,” Dr. Sulej continued.
The Early Triassic period was about 250 million years ago. The climate in the lands of today's Poland was hot, and the preserved sandstone rocks mean that it was a semi-desert area with rivers flowing through it, which were the centers of life.
Two groups of amphibians dominated back then in central Europe: capitosaurs and trematosaurs described in the paper. There were also reptiles, possibly including the ancestors of the
first Polish proto-dinosaur Silesaurus the remnants of which were discovered in Krasiejów, south-western Poland, back in 2000.
