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The timing and pattern of biotic recovery from the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction remains elusive. Here we report new material of the Early Triassic sauropterygian Lariosaurus sanxiaensis and associated fauna from the Jialingjiang Formation in Hubei Province, South China. Phylogenetic analysis based on a novel data matrix of sauropterygians recognizes L. sanxiaensis as a basal nothosaur. Stratigraphic congruence analysis shows that the new phylogenetic consensus tree matches to the stratigraphic distribution of sauropterygians very well. The diversified reptilian fauna and inferred simple food web in the Nanzhang-Yuan’an fauna where L. sanxiaensis was discovered suggest that the Triassic biotic recovery adopted a top-down pattern, in contrast to the prevailing view. Comparison with the Middle Triassic Luoping biota from the same carbonate platform suggests that the Triassic biotic recovery is delayed and healthy ecosystems were not established until the Middle Triassic in South China., Qiang Li & Jun Liu present new fossils from the Early Triassic sauropterygian Lariosaurus sanxiaensis and associated reptile fauna recovered from South China. Their phylogenetic analysis places L. sanxiaensis as a basal nothosaur.

The Ceresiosaurus genus was a Nothosauria group, that inhabited in the more meridional Alpine basins of the Tethys sea during Ladinian age (Middle Triassic). In this paper, we to describe the first finding of this genus in the Iberian peninsula, in Mont-ral- Alcover (Tarragona), an outcrop with abundant fauna and flora but where dolomitization destroyed all original skeletal material. We rewieve the taxonomic position of the genus Lariosaurus and Ceresiosaurus to belong to Lariosauridae branch by means of cladistic analysis and we discuss some paleobiological and paleoecological aspects.El género Ceresiosaurus fue un grupo de Nothosauria, que habitó en las cuencas alpinas más meridionales del mar del Tetis durante el Ladiniense (Triásico medio). En este trabajo se describe el primer hallazgo de un ejemplar de este género en la Península Ibérica, en Mont-ral-Alcover (Tarragona), un yacimiento rico en fauna y flora, pero en el que la dolomitización destruye todo el material esquelético original. Se revisa la posición taxonómica de los géneros Lariosaurus y Ceresiosaurus, pertenecientes al clado Lariosauridae mediante un análisis cladístico y se discuten aspectos paleoecológicos y paleobiológicos de dicho grupo.

The Ceresiosaurus genus was a Nothosauria group, that inhabited in the more meridional Alpine basins of the Tethys sea during Ladinian age (Middle Triassic). In this paper, we to describe the first finding of this genus in the Iberian peninsula, in Mont-ral- Alcover (Tarragona), an outcrop with abundant fauna and flora but where dolomitization destroyed all original skeletal material. We rewieve the taxonomic position of the genus Lariosaurus and Ceresiosaurus to belong to Lariosauridae branch by means of cladistic analysis and we discuss some paleobiological and paleoecological aspects. El género Ceresiosaurus fue un grupo de Nothosauria, que habitó en las cuencas alpinas más meridionales del mar del Tetis durante el Ladiniense (Triásico medio). En este trabajo se describe el primer hallazgo de un ejemplar de este género en la Península Ibérica, en Mont-ral-Alcover (Tarragona), un yacimiento rico en fauna y flora, pero en el que la dolomitización destruye todo el material esquelético original. Se revisa la posición taxonómica de los géneros Lariosaurus y Ceresiosaurus, pertenecientes al clado Lariosauridae mediante un análisis cladístico y se discuten aspectos paleoecológicos y paleobiológicos de dicho grupo.

A new specimen of Lariosaurus xingyiensis is described and provides new information on the dermal palate of the skull and the postcranial skeleton. Based on a comprehensive comparison with the holotype specimen, an amended diagnosis of L. xingyiensis is given on the basis of the following features: a medium-sized species of Lariosaurus with jugal absent, longitudinal diameter of upper temporal fenestra about 1.7 times longitudinal diameter of orbit, retroarticular process elongate, clavicles without anterolaterally expanded corners, posterior scapular process (blade) slender and elongate, humerus distinctly shorter than femur, and dorsal process of ilium with distinct tubercular ornamentation. Two phylogenetic analyses of Nothosauridae demonstrate that Nothosaurus as previously conceived is not monophyletic whereas Lariosaurus is a monophylum. Three species previously referred to Nothosaurus are more closely related to Lariosaurus and are hereby reassigned to Lariosaurus, namely, L. juvenilis, L. ...

The marine tetrapods from the late Ladinian Spanish Muschelkalk deposits located between the towns of Mont‐ral and Alcover (province Tarragona) are reviewed. The fauna comprises an undetermined thalattosaur, a small cyamodontoid placodont probably referrable to Psephoderma, a possible pachypleurosaur with (if any) affinities to the Serpianosaurus‐Neusticosaurus clade, lariosaur specimens currently referred to Lariosaurus balsami, an incomplete specimen of Lariosaurus calcagnii, an endemic nothosaur (Nothosaurus cymatosauroides), and a possible pistosaur. Collectively, the faunal mix comprises endemic taxa as well as elements with affinities to the fauna of the Alpine and/or Germanic Triassic. The fauna suggests faunal interchange through the Burgundy Gate linking the southern branch of the developing Neotethys to the Germanic Basin.

A new skull representing the oldest record of the genus Lariosaurus in the Germanic Basin is described. The small-sized skull originates from the early middle Anisian (Bithynian) of the Winterswijkse Steengroeve (Winterswijk, The Netherlands) and is assigned to L. vosseveldensis, sp. nov. Supplementation of a recently established phylogeny with L. vosseveldensis, sp. nov., recovered it within Lariosaurus as the sister taxon to Nothosaurus winkelhorsti and L. buzzii. The generic assignment of N. juvenilis, N. youngi, and N. winkelhorsti to Nothosaurus must be reevaluated to reestablish support for a monophyletic Lariosaurus, and only a definitive resolution of the polytomy including Germanosaurus could recover a monophyletic Nothosauridae. The Winterswijk locality has previously yielded a rich and diverse marine reptile fauna, including an endemic basal placodont. The nearly contemporaneous occurrence of L. vosseveldensis, sp. nov., and L. hongguoensis from the middle Anisian (Pelsonian) of China ...