Ichthyosaurs Content

Ichthyosaur’s Last Meal Is Evidence of Triassic Megapredation

Andy Fell — August 20, 2020 - 7:53am

Some 240 million years ago, a dolphinlike ichthyosaur ripped to pieces and swallowed another marine reptile only a little smaller than itself. Then it almost immediately died and was fossilized, preserving the first evidence of megapredation, or a large animal preying on another large animal. The fossil, discovered in 2010 in southwestern China, is described in a paper published Aug. 20 in the journal iScience.

Earliest Ichthyosaur Munched on Shellfish

Andy Fell — May 11, 2020 - 8:01am

The ichthyosaurs were sleek, dolphin-like marine reptiles that roamed the oceans while dinosaurs ruled on land. But the earliest known member of the group was a short, seal-like animal that could likely pull itself on to land. Now scanning of that animal’s skull shows that it likely fed on hard-shelled animals such as shellfish and crabs. The appearance of similar teeth in other ichthyosaurs gives insight into how these animals were evolving in the wake of the mass extinction at the end of the Permian era, 250 million years ago.

New Fossil Changes Ideas About Marine Reptile Evolution

Andy Fell — May 23, 2016 - 11:00pm

A newly discovered fossil is changing ideas about the evolution of the dolphin-like ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs on land, and shows how quickly life rebounded from a catastrophic mass extinction 250 million years ago.