Sometimes you read a paper about a new fossil animal and
just shake your head in disbelief. That was the posture I adopted back in 2014,
when Atopodentatus unicus was unveiled to the world in the
pages of Naturissenchaften. It’s a pretty good-sized marine reptile with a long
tail and body, stout limbs, and a very small skull. From the neck down, this is
a pretty nondescript critter that, according to its description, seems to have
a close relationship with the Sauropterygia.
