Overview

• The Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt announced that ten fossil skulls about 230 million years old were identified inside Steigerwald sandstone blocks.
• The remains are attributed to Cycloto- and Metoposaurier, carnivorous giant amphibians with jaws over half a meter long lined with sharp teeth.
• Large blocks from the Steigerwald were examined with specialized 3-D computed tomography at the Fraunhofer Institute in Fürth, revealing the skulls without cutting the rock.
• Researchers outline two unconfirmed scenarios for the deposit: skulls washed from a muddy pond by heavy rain or a mass death after a pond dried during drought.
• A tooth-bearing lower jaw found near Rauhenebrach four years ago led to the follow-up scanning effort that produced the find, which the agency characterizes as unique in Europe.