Scientists Describe 240-Million-Year-Old Arenaerpeton Fossil, the Only Known Specimen Found in Australian Sandstone
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · May 15
Scientists Describe 240-Million-Year-Old Arenaerpeton Fossil, the Only Known Specimen Found in Australian Sandstone
2 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · May 15
A 240-million-year-old fossil from the Australian Museum has now been formally described as Arenaerpeton supinatus, a rare extinct temnospondyl and the only known specimen of its species.
The sandstone slab preserves an almost complete articulated skeleton plus soft-tissue traces—an unusually rich find because sandstone typically yields only fragments such as bones, teeth or tracks.
Researchers say the roughly 1.2-meter animal likely died in calm freshwater with low-oxygen or cold bottom waters, conditions that slowed decay and protected the body from scavengers.
Found after retired farmer Mihail Mihailidis flipped over quarry stone meant for a retaining wall, the specimen was donated decades ago and later identified as one of New South Wales' most important fossil finds in 30 years.
Dating to the Triassic, before dinosaurs dominated, the fossil may help explain how Australian temnospondyls—heavyset amphibian relatives with fang-like tusks—persisted across two mass extinctions.
Why is the perfect preservation of this 240-million-year-old 'sand-creeper' in sandstone baffling scientists?
How did a backyard discovery reveal a tusked amphibian that survived a mass extinction?