Concept
Timeline of ichthyosaur research
Related concepts (8)
Chaohusaurus
Chaohusaurus is an extinct genus of basal ichthyopterygian, depending on definition possibly ichthyosaur, from the Early Triassic of Chaohu and Yuanan, China. The type species Chaohusaurus geishanensis was named and described by Yang Zhongjian and Dong Zhiming in 1972, based on a fossil found during the construction of a railway. The generic name refers to lake Chao Hu. The specific name refers to the Geishan location. The holotype, IVPP V 4001, was uncovered in a layer of the Majianshan Limestone Formation dating from the Anisian.
Acamptonectes
Acamptonectes is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs, a type of dolphin-like marine reptiles, that lived during the Early Cretaceous around 130 million years ago. The first specimen, a partial adult skeleton, was discovered in Speeton, England, in 1958, but was not formally described until 2012 by Valentin Fischer and colleagues. They also recognised a partial subadult skeleton belonging to the genus from Cremlingen, Germany, and specimens from other localities in England.
Malawania
Malawania is an extinct genus of basal thunnosaur ichthyosaur known from the middle Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian or Barremian stage) of Iraq. Malawania was named by Valentin Fischer, Robert M. Appleby, Darren Naish, Jeff Liston, Riding, J. B., Brindley, S. and Pascal Godefroit in 2013 and the type species is Malawania anachronus. It is unusual as it is much more primitive than other Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, being most closely related to Ichthyosaurus from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, over 70 million years earlier than Malawania, with all other known ichthyosaurs from the Late Jurassic onwards belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae.
Muiscasaurus
Muiscasaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaur that lived in modern Colombia during the Early Cretaceous. The only known species is the type Muiscasaurus catheti. The fossils of Muiscasaurus were found in the Paja Formation, whose sediments are exposed near the town of Villa de Leyva in Boyacá Department. These remains were found in 2010 in the middle of a limestone concretion, known as the Arcillolitas abigarradas Member, dating from the Barremian to Aptian epochs of the Lower Cretaceous.
Stenopterygius
Stenopterygius is an extinct genus of thunnosaur ichthyosaur known from Europe (England, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland). Stenopterygius was originally named by Quenstedt in 1856 as a species of Ichthyosaurus, I. quadriscissus. Otto Jaekel in 1904 reassigned it to its own genus, Stenopterygius. The type species is therefore Stenopterygius quadriscissus. The generic name is derived from stenos, Greek for "narrow", and pteryx (πτερυξ), Greek for "fin" or "wing". Stenopterygius was a medium-sized ichthyosaur, with S.
Platypterygius
Platypterygius is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within Platypterygius likely are undiagnostic at the genus or species level, or represent distinct genera, even being argued as invalid. While fossils referred to Platypterygius have been found throughout different continents, the holotype specimen was found in Germany.
Kyhytysuka
Kyhytysuka (kɨhɨtɨˈsuka) is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurian ichthyosaur from Early Cretaceous Colombia. The animal was previously assigned to the genus Platypterygius, but given its own genus in 2021. Kyhytysuka was a mid-sized ophthalmosaurian with heterodont dentition and several adaptations suggesting that it was a macropredatory vertebrate hunter living in shallow waters. It contains a single species, Kyhytysuka sachicarum.cite journal |last1=Cortés |first1=D. |last2=Maxwell |first2=E.
Ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – ἰχθύς and σαῦρος) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, although the term is now used more for the parent clade of the Ichthyosauria). Ichthyosaurs thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fossil evidence, they first appeared around 250 million years ago (Ma) and at least one species survived until about 90 million years ago, into the Late Cretaceous.