THE STATUS OF THE SAUROPTERYGIAN REPTILE NOTHOSAURUS-JUVENILIS FROM THE MIDDLE TRIASSIC OF GERMANY

The holotype and only known specimen of Nothosaurus juvenilis from the Hauptmuschelkalk of Germany is redescribed and compared with the type material of all other Nothosaurus species described from the Muschelk alk of central Europe. N. juvenilis proves to be a valid species diagn osed by morphological features and by cranial proportions, as well as by its small overall size. It overlaps in stratigraphical and geograph ical distribution with a medium-sized and a large species of the genus Nothosaurus, and thus provides the first evidence for niche partition ing among coexisting species of that genus.