Lindwurmia thiuda – The Most Complete Plesiosaur from the Lowermost Jurassic of Germany
In January 2004, I had the opportunity to study a plesiosaur skeleton housed at the Museum Heineanum in Halberstadt, Germany. The specimen originates from the lowermost Lower Jurassic (the lower Hettangian), making it one of the oldest known Jurassic plesiosaurs from Germany. Although the mounted skeleton may appear highly complete, the actual fossil is somewhat less so. The preserved skeleton measures approximately 3 meters in length.
History of the Specimen
The specimen has an interesting history. In 1899, two vertebrae were discovered in the Thiemike clay pit at the Kanonenberg (“Cannon Hill”) in Halberstadt. The owner of the quarry, Mr. Thiemike, sought the advice of local pharmacist Johannes Maak, who recommended a more thorough search for additional remains. Further searching in the gravel led to the recovery of 72 vertebrae, parts of the skull (including the preorbital region and braincase), the mandible, large portions of the limbs, girdle elements, and numerous ribs.
Modelled skull of Lindwurmia thiuda. The original part of the mandible is included in the mount.
Mr. Maak prepared and mounted the specimen and published a brief note about it in the Illustrierte Zeitung (“Illustrated Newspaper”) on September 19, 1901. He reconstructed the specimen as Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, noting certain differences—particularly in the shape of the cervical ribs and the overall size of the animal—which led him to consider it a forma germanica (“German form”). In 1905, Mr. Thiemike loaned the specimen to the newly established municipal museum in Halberstadt (today’s Museum Heineanum).
The skeleton was later offered to palaeontologist Josef Pompeckj, then a professor at the University of Göttingen. He passed it on to Theodor Brandes for study. Brandes published a preliminary description in 1912, identifying it as Plesiosaurus (Thaumatosaurus) aff. megacephalus Stutchbury. A more detailed account followed in 1914, in which he assigned the specimen to the genus Thaumatosaurus, referring to it as T. aff. megacephalus, based on Thaumatosaurus megacephalus (also known as Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus) which today forms a distinct genus, Atychodracon.
Little is known about Theodor Brandes. He was affiliated with Göttingen university when he published his 1912 paper and living in Leipzig at the time of his 1914 publication. Online sources suggest that he was drafted into military service in 1915 and tragically died in 1916 at just 30 years of age.
In later literature, including Holz (1991), the specimen was listed as Eurycleidus cf. megacephalus.
In 2019, Peggy Vincent and Glenn Storrs published a redescription of the specimen, formally naming it Lindwurmia thiuda. The genus name “Lindwurmia” derives from the Lindwurm, a medieval German term for a dragon. Lindwurmia is classified within the Rhomaleosauridae and represents the most complete plesiosaur known from the lowermost Lower Jurassic of Germany.
Mandible seen in dorsal (1a) and ventral (1b) view (from Brandes, 1914)
References
Brandes, T. (1914) Plesiosauriden aus dem Unteren Lias von Halberstadt. Palaeontographica 61: 41–56.
Holz, R. (1991) Halberstädter Saurier. Begleitheft zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung. Museum Heineanum Halberstadt. 3rd edition. 20 pages.
Drawing of the pelvic girdle (from Brandes, 1914)