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Ichthyopterygia

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

Life restoration of the ichthyosaur Contectopalatus atavus, a fascinating marine reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.

Ichthyopterygia

Ichthyopterygia ("fish flippers") was a name given by Sir Richard Owen in 1840 for certain sea reptiles called ichthyosaurs that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. Today, the term is used for both these advanced ichthyosaurs and their earlier, simpler ancestors from the Triassic period.

Early ichthyopterygians were small, usually not longer than about a meter. They had long, flexible bodies and special bones that let them swim in a smooth, snake-like way. This helped them move quickly and turn easily while hunting in shallow waters. Even these early animals had real flippers and could not move around on land.

These fascinating creatures lived along the coasts of the northern part of an ancient supercontinent called Pangea. Their fossils have been found in places like Japan, China, Canada, and Spitsbergen in Norway. By the later Middle Triassic, the simpler forms had disappeared, making way for their more advanced descendants, the true ichthyosaurs.

Some of the oldest known ichthyopterygian fossils come from rock layers in Spitsbergen in Svalbard. This shows that ichthyopterygians appeared very early in the Triassic period.

Taxonomy

Nasorostrans and basal ichthyopterygians

Below is a cladogram from Cuthbertson et al., 2013.

Images

An artist’s sketch of Excalibosaurus, a fascinating marine reptile from the Early Jurassic period.
An artist’s drawing of Utatsusaurus hataii, an ancient sea reptile that lived over 200 million years ago in what is now Japan.
An artist's reconstruction of Grippia longirostris, an ancient marine reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.
An artist's drawing of Chaohusaurus, an ancient marine reptile from the Triassic period.
Scientific illustration of Cymbospondylus petrinus, an ancient marine reptile, for educational use.
Life restoration of Mixosaurus cornalianus, an ancient marine reptile from the Triassic period.
An artistic restoration of Shonisaurus popularis, a large marine reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.
An artist's drawing of Californosaurus, a fascinating sea reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.
Scientific reconstruction of Ophthalmosaurus icenicus, an ancient marine reptile, based on fossil evidence and expert illustrations.
An artist's reconstruction of the ancient sea reptile Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, showing how scientists believe it may have looked in prehistoric times.
Scientific illustration of Phalarodon, an ancient ichthyosaur from the Triassic period of the Tethys Sea.
Scientific reconstruction of Platypterygius, an ancient marine reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.

Related articles

Richard Owen
Ichthyosauria
Triassic
Japan
China
Canada

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Ichthyopterygia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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