"Oldest Southern Hemisphere Sea Reptile Fossil Discovered"
A 246 million-year-old nothosaur fossil discovered in New Zealand is the oldest marine reptile fossil found in the Southern Hemisphere. This finding, identified by Uppsala University’s Museum of Evolution, provides new insights into early sea reptiles' distribution and evolution following a mass extinction event. The fossil suggests that nothosaurs originated near the equator and spread rapidly, thriving in ancient polar regions due to extreme global warming.