Thanks to numerous finds in Central Europe, the herbivore Plateosaurus trossingensis is considered as one of the most important early dinosaurs. One of the best preserved and the first complete skeleton from the important locality in Trossingen was discovered by Eberhard Fraas in 1912 and served as the basis for the first detailed description of the species in 1926. After almost 100 years, it was time to revisit this skeleton – the so-called holotype. A holotype is an incredibly important specimen, as it serves as a reference by which a species is described.
Plateosaurus lived around 210 million years ago in the Late Triassic epoch. This early dinosaur could grow up to ten metres long and weigh up to four tonnes. One of the most important sites where nearly 100 Plateosaurus skeletons have been found is Trossingen in Baden-Württemberg, which is why it is nicknamed the Swabian Lindworm.
Joep Schaeffer, palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in Stuttgart, has re-examined the famous scientific reference specimen of Plateosaurus trossingensis - with the number SMNS 13200 - and provided important details on the characteristics of this iconic dinosaur species, its biology and its relationships with other early dinosaurs.
New descriptions like these are important, as they also provide new insights into the animals based on current knowledge and modern methods. They therefore create a more solid basis for future dinosaur research, especially for comparisons of dinosaur skeletons. The new description of Plateosaurus is important, as there has been a lack of consensus on whether Plateosaurus trossingensis is the only species of the genus.
When analysing multiple skeletons from different collections of Plateosaurus trossingensis, bone pathologies on the tail attracted the palaeontologist’s attention. Together with other researchers, possible causes for this were investigated in a second publication.
Injuries were found on three tail bones, the so-called haemal arches. This prompted a research team of palaeontologists and a veterinarian to analyse additional skeletons. Almost 15 percent of the examined Plateosaurus fossils showed these injuries, which did not lead to the death of the animals, but left behind considerable damage.
The scientists consider several scenarios to be plausible. One possibility is that the animals got stuck in the mud and sustained the injuries when they tried to free themselves from the mud with their tails. A second possibility is that the dinosaurs hit their tails during social interactions. Attacks by predators, such as the carnivorous Liliensternus, are another hypothesis.
The new description of Plateosaurus trossingensis was published in Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
The studies on the tail bone injuries were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
For more information about the dinosaur excavations in Trossingen, there is a science blog post by Prof Dr Rainer Schoch with further information: