Scientists from the University of Warsaw (UW) have discovered an unknown species of prehistoric reptile. The fossils of Kocurypelta silvestris are one of the few finds by palaeontologists at the site in Kocury.  

The first confirmed remains of dinosaurs from Poland were identified in the village of Kocury, located in the Opole Voivodeship. They were described in 1932 under the name Velocipes guerichi. After almost a hundred years, Polish palaeontologists have once again carried out excavations in the local forest.

The results of their research were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, in the article “An Upper Triassic Terrestrial Vertebrate Assemblage from the Forgotten Kocury Locality (Poland) with a New Aetosaur Taxon”.

The publication summarizes the current excavation works carried out in the forest in Kocury, which allowed to discover new fossils of late-Triassic vertebrates, including lungfish, turtles and a new aetosaurus. It was called Kocurypelta silvestris, which in Latin means “Kocury forest shield” – said Łukasz Czepiński from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology of the University of Warsaw