An international research team from the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart led by paleontologists Dr. Eudald Mujal and Prof. Rainer Schoch has now presented a comprehensive overview of the Triassic terrestrial tetrapods of the Central European Basin. In this fundamental work, the scientists have analyzed both all known fossilized skeletal remains and footprints together for the first time. Many of the specimens come from the extensive paleontological collections of the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History.

The research, published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, provides a detailed reconstruction of the Triassic terrestrial tetrapod faunas, their paleoenvironments, ecology and evolution.

The Triassic in south-west Germany

The Triassic covers the period from 252 to 201 million years ago. The area of present-day Baden-Württemberg was a central part of the Central European Basin. The extraordinary abundance of fossils and the extensive outcrops of Triassic rocks of this region make it easy to reconstruct the ecosystems of that time.

"The Triassic is an important window into the past for understanding evolutionary patterns, adaptations and the emergence of ecological niches. Terrestrial tetrapod communities are particularly fascinating. The rise of the dinosaurs began in the Triassic. There were already predecessors of modern mammals, and predatory crocodile relatives encountered giant amphibians. Research into the environment and animal communities is extremely exciting for us," says Dr. Mujal, paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart and first author of the study.