Hescheleria

Hescheleria is an extinct genus of thalattosaurian marine reptile from the Middle Triassic (247.2 to 235 Ma) of Monte San Giorgio in Switzerland. It is represented by a single type species, H. ruebeli, which was named in 1936.^[1]

Hescheleria Temporal range: Anisian-Carnian, 247.2–235 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Reconstruction of the head of Hescheleria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	†Thalattosauria
Family:	†Thalattosauridae
Clade:	†Claraziidae
Genus:	†Hescheleria Peyer, 1936
Type species
Hescheleria ruebeli Peyer, 1936b

Description

Like other thalattosaurs, Hescheleria has a slender lizard-like body with a long paddle-shaped tail. It is estimated to have grown to approximately 1 meter in length.

The skull possesses an unusually-shaped snout, with sharply downturned premaxillae. This forms a toothy hook at almost a right angle to the rest of the jaw, with a large diastema. The mandible is considerably robust and is dotted with small sharp teeth, along with a pair of pointed conical projections towards the tip, the function of which is unknown.^[2] The strange skull suggests a highly specialized lifestyle. It has been speculated^[1] that the projections on the mandible were used to crush hard-shelled prey such as molluscs. Other paleontologists disagree with this hypothesis,^[2] arguing that the projections do not occlude against any other potential crushing surface in the jaws, instead making contact with the rostral diastema.