Cyclotosaurus;
Credit: Dmitry Bogdanov
On Monday 17 March 2025, Luxembourg’s National Museum of Natural History (Natur Musée) announced that researchers had recently discovered the remains of giant amphibians in Larochette.
In a press release, Natur Musée stated that, in collaboration with experts from the Teufelsschlucht Dinosaur Park in Ernzen, Germany and the Palaeontologica Belgica Association in Belgium, a research excavation took place in the Larochette area in Luxembourg in 2024.
Numerous bones of extinct, large-bodied amphibians were found in a 210-million-year-old rock layer. These so-called armoured amphibians lived in the swamps and ponds of the Triassic landscape at that time. The bones were all found individually and come from various amphibian species, including the approximately 1-metre-long Gerrothorax and the up to 4-metre-long Cyclotosaurus.
"The bones were probably washed together during a flood and covered in mud, forming a veritable graveyard of armoured amphibians," explained Dr Ben Thuy, palaeontologist at the Natur Musée and head of the excavation. Such accumulations of bones in a specific rock layer, known in scientific circles as "bonebeds", yield hardly any coherent skeletons, but instead large quantities of bones and teeth from various animals. "Armoured amphibians were among the top predators in the waters of the Upper Triassic. Although they belong to the amphibians, they lived in a similar way to modern-day crocodiles," Dr Thuy said.
The recovery was reported as being extremely difficult due to the fragility of the bones. With the active involvement of the Natur Musée's scientific staff and experts from the international network, over 100 individual bones were ultimately recovered. The finds have now all been examined and sorted, allowing the discovery to be reported for the first time.
In the coming months, the remains will be prepared and professionally examined at the Teufelsschlucht Dinosaur Park. The plan is to then present the finished fossils to the public at the Luxembourg museum.
HOM
