M3#1039

Virtual reconstruction of a Late Jurassic metriorhynchid skull from Switzerland and its use for scientific illustration and paleoart

Sophie De Sousa Oliveira, Léa Girard, Irena Raselli and Jérémy Anquetin

The democratization of 3D techniques in recent years provides exciting new opportunities for the study of complex fossils. In the present contribution, we provide a virtual reconstruction of a partial, disarticulated metriorhynchid (Metriorhynchidae, Thalattosuchia, Crocodylomorpha) skull from the Late Jurassic of northwestern Switzerland. This virtual reconstruction was used to produce high quality scientific illustrations of the whole skull for descriptive purposes. The reconstructed skull also served for the estimation of the total body length of the specimen and to propose a life reconstruction of the animal in its paleoenvironment. In an effort for transparency, we review the sources that were consulted for the life reconstruction and explain the choices that we had to make.