Tag Archives: ichthyosaur

Discovering a Jurassic Ichthyosaur Fossil: A Major Find in Cuba

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Discovering the Most Complete Ichthyosaur Skeleton in Cuba

An ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. Image credit: Dmitri Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.

Paleontologists recently unearthed the most complete **ichthyosaur skeleton** ever found in western Cuba, deep within a **limestone cave**. This significant discovery was made in 2023 at the river cave known as **El Cuajani**, part of the Viñales Geopark and National Park.

The exposed skeletal remains feature a **U-curved vertebral column**, multiple associated ribs, isolated vertebrae, and a hindlimb.

“The specimen is preserved in rock slabs that form the ceiling of the river cave, specifically known as **Cueva del Ictiosario**, located approximately 60 meters from the entrance,” shared Dr. Manuel Iturralde Vinent from the Cuban Academy of Sciences, collaborating with experts from Cuba, Argentina, Poland, and the US.

This remarkable fossil dates back to the **Tithonian period** of the late Jurassic era, roughly **145 million years ago**. Previously, most records of Cuban ichthyosaurs were limited to older Oxford deposits.

“This fossil stands out as the most complete ichthyosaur retrieved from Cuba,” the paleontologists remarked. “It significantly extends the temporal record of **island ichthyosaurs**, which previously only included the Oxford specimen.”

Partial skeleton of El Cuajani ichthyosaur. Image credit: Iturralde-Vinent et al., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2025.2609717.

The **El Cuajani ichthyosaur**, as researchers have informally dubbed it, has yet to be classified into a specific species, but its anatomical features suggest connections to the **Ophthalmosauridae** family.

“The morphology of the hind limbs resembles that of Tithonian **platypterigin ophthalmosaurids**, such as Caprisaurus bonapartei and Aegylosaurus leptospondylus,” they explained.

Scientists believe this ancient creature thrived in **deep ocean** environments. The **Caribbean Seaway** served as a vital oceanic corridor, linking distant regions of the Jurassic world.

“The Caribbean Seaway played a crucial role in promoting the dispersal of marine species between Europe, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean from the Late Jurassic,” the researchers stated.

“This corridor has a Triassic to early Jurassic heritage, rooted in the intercontinental rifts of Pangea, which should not be confused with the early Caribbean basin.”

“The El Cuajani ichthyosaur adds to the growing body of Tithonian ichthyosaur discoveries in this area, potentially enriching our understanding of the biogeographic history of this group,” the researchers concluded.

For further reading, refer to their research paper published in the February 6th issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Manuel Iturralde-Vinent et al.. A partial skeleton of an ichthyosaur (Ophthalmosauridae) excavated from the Tithonian (late Jurassic period) in western Cuba. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology published online on February 6, 2026. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2025.2609717

Source: www.sci.news

Fossil of Long-Snouted Ichthyosaur Unearthed in the UK

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Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester, along with his team, has unveiled a new genus and species of leptonectid ichthyosaur based on fossil remains found in Dorset, England.

Reconstruction of Siphodracon goldencapensis. Image credit: Bob Nichols.

The near-complete skeleton of this dolphin-sized ichthyosaur was unearthed near Golden Cap in 2001 by fossil collector Chris Moore from Dorset.

This specimen features a skull with large eye sockets and a long, sword-like snout, marking it as a new genus and species.

Dating back to the Pliensbachian period of the Early Jurassic, the fossil is estimated to be between 193 and 184 million years old.

“I vividly recall first seeing the skeleton in 2016. While we recognized its rarity then, we didn’t anticipate its significant contribution to our understanding of the intricate faunal turnover during the Pliensbachian period,” stated Dr. Lomax.

“This era is critical for ichthyosaurs, as certain families disappeared while new ones emerged, making this new species potentially the ‘missing piece of the ichthyosaur puzzle.’

“It is more closely related to species from the Late Jurassic, and its discovery helps indicate that faunal turnover transpires much earlier than we previously thought.”

“This marks the first early Jurassic ichthyosaur genus to be described in this region in over a century.”

Skeleton and skull of Siphodracon goldencapensis. Image credit: Dean Lomax.

Named Siphodracon goldencapensis, this new ichthyosaur measures approximately 3 meters (10 feet) in length and likely preyed on fish and squid. Evidence of its last meal can also be observed in the remains.

According to Dr. Erin Maxwell, an ichthyosaur specialist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart: “This skeleton not only offers essential insights into the evolution of ichthyosaurs but also enhances our understanding of life in Britain’s Jurassic seas.”

“The limb bones and teeth appear malformed, suggesting the animal suffered significant injury or disease during its life, and indications show the skull may have been bitten by a large predator, possibly another larger ichthyosaur, leading to this individual’s death.”

“Life in the Mesozoic ocean was perilous.”

The researchers identified several traits in Siphodracon goldencapensis that have not been seen in any known ichthyosaur.

One of the most peculiar features is the lacrimal bone, which has a unique protruding structure around the nostril.

“Thousands of complete or nearly complete ichthyosaur skeletons exist from both pre- and post-Pliensbachian layers,” noted Judy Massare, a ichthyosaur expert from the State University of New York at Brockport.

“Although the overall ecosystem shows similarities, the two faunas differ significantly with no overlapping species.”

“Evidently, a substantial shift in species diversity took place at some point during the Pliensbachian period.”

“Siphodracon goldencapensis aids in pinpointing when this change happened, yet we still lack insight into the reasons.”

This work is detailed in a study published in this month’s edition of Paleontology Papers.

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Dean R. Lomax et al. 2025. A new species of ichthyosaur with an elongated snout reveals complex faunal alterations during the poorly sampled Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) period. Paleontology Papers 11 (5): e70038; doi: 10.1002/spp2.70038

Source: www.sci.news

Sword Dragon: The Ichthyosaur with Enormous Eyes and a Lethal Snout

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Reconstruction of Siphodracon it might have looked like

Bob Nicholls

Presenting the “sword dragon,” a recently identified species of ichthyosaur, a predatory ancient reptile that ruled the oceans during the reign of the dinosaurs on land.

This exquisitely preserved fossil skeleton was unearthed in 2001 near Golden Cap on England’s Jurassic Coast and remained in museum storage for many years. Royal Ontario Museum in Canada.

Dean Lomax of the University of Manchester, UK, stated: “They recognized it was something notable.” “They intended to study it, but ultimately did not.”

Lomax and his team have carefully examined and classified a specimen with large eye sockets and a sword-like elongated snout. The fossil contains “needle-like teeth,” adapted for consuming soft-bodied prey such as squid and fish. “This provides great insight into the lifestyle of this creature while it was alive. Essentially, it likely hunted in dim environments and depended on exceptional vision,” Lomax explained.

The creature measured approximately 3 meters in length, roughly the size of a bottlenose dolphin, and is believed to have existed during the Early Jurassic period, specifically the Pliensbachian epoch, around 193 to 184 million years ago.

Its anatomical features are unprecedented among ichthyosaurs, including a distinctive lacrimal bone with an unusual structure surrounding its nostrils. “The preservation quality, especially of delicate elements like cranial sutures and the lacrimal and prefrontal processes, is remarkable,” remarked Aubrey Roberts from the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway.

The black mass found between the ribs may represent its final meal, although the researchers were unable to identify it.

Fossilized Xiphodracon Golden Capensis

Dr. Dean Lomax

This ichthyosaur has been named for its menacing snout: Siphodracon Golden Capensis, known as the golden-capped sword dragon.

This specimen also provides valuable insight into the evolution of ichthyosaurs. “The greatest significance of this discovery lies in its age,” remarked Roberts. During the latter part of the Triassic, massive superpredator ichthyosaurs such as Ichthyotitan, reaching lengths of nearly 25 meters, existed alongside species as large as blue whales, but these titans vanished following a mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic, approximately 201.4 million years ago, marking the onset of the Jurassic period.

Fossils of various smaller ichthyosaurs have been discovered that date back to the Jurassic period, as Lomax pointed out. Many have been identified since the Pliensbachian period, but no common species exist, and there are two distinct types.

“Triassic ichthyosaurs were well-known for their uniqueness,” explains Neil Kelley of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee. “Their Jurassic successors are often perceived as somewhat more uniform, sharing a superficially dolphin-like appearance.”

“Siphodracon contributes another shade to the broad spectrum of ichthyosaurs,” he added, supporting evidence that Jurassic ichthyosaurs adopted a range of lifestyles, featuring diverse diets, swimming speeds, and habitat preferences.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient Ichthyosaur Fossil, 98 Million Years Old, Unearthed in New Zealand

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New Zealand paleontologists have discovered a partial skeleton. platypterygoid ichthyosaur It dates back to the Cretaceous period.

a pair of Platypterygius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.

“Ichthyosaurs are a clade of secondary aquatic marine reptiles that lived in the oceans for much of the Mesozoic, first appearing in the Early Triassic and eventually becoming part of the Cenomanian.'' It became extinct at the Turonian border.”

“Cretaceous ichthyosaurs were once thought to be a group with low diversity and disparity, the result of a long-term decline since the Jurassic.”

“However, recent studies have produced a growing body of evidence that Cretaceous ichthyosaurs were much more diverse than previously thought.”

“Ichthyosaur fossils were first recorded in New Zealand by von Haast in 1861 from Pott Mountain in the central South Island,” they added.

“Over the next 150 years, ichthyosaur fossil material was recovered from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.”

The new New Zealand ichthyosaur was discovered in the Coverham area at the northern end of the Waiau Toa/Clarence Valley.

The specimen is a disarticulated partial skeleton preserved in a tubercle.

Its origins date back to 98 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, about 4 million years before ichthyosaurs finally became extinct.

“This material comes from the condensate that was discovered.” on site “It lies within the Swale Silt Formation of the Split Rock Formation, a siliciclastic unit deposited during the Cenomanian period and found throughout southern Marlborough and northernmost Canterbury on New Zealand's South Island,” the paleontologists said.

“All Cretaceous ichthyosaur material ever described in New Zealand comes from the North Island.”

This specimen is the most completely preserved ichthyosaur known from New Zealand.

It has a well-preserved pelvis and dorsal fin, adding to the known data set of these elements, which are poorly preserved in Cretaceous species.

“Although the specimen is too fragmentary to be formally named, this taxon has an extremely reduced basioccipital extracondylar area, a scapula with a prominent acromion process and a strap-like scapular shaft, and A complete left pelvic girdle with an elongated depression “located on the anteroproximal aspect of the ischium” is shown, the researchers said.

They suggest that it is a late-diverging member of the platypterygian ichthyosaurs and is closely related to East Gondwanan species. Platypterygius australis and many European Cretaceous ichthyosaurs.

However, it appears to be unrelated to the Cretaceous ichthyosaurs of western Gondwana, suggesting potential regionalism in the Cretaceous ichthyosaur populations of Gondwana.

“New Zealand ichthyosaurs add to the known diversity of Gondwanan-Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, and suggest that ichthyosaur populations were distributed regionally, rather than internationally, near the margins of Cretaceous Gondwana. “This may indicate that,” the scientists concluded.

of findings will appear in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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George R.A. Young others. A platyptera ichthyosaur from the Cenomanian region of central New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontologypublished online October 30, 2024. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2408391

Source: www.sci.news

Colombian fossils reveal a new species of ichthyosaur

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Paleontologists say they have identified a new species of marine reptile in the ophthalmosaurid family Platypterygius. It lived about 125 million years ago.

a pair of Platypterygius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.

Ophthalmosauridae is a family of ichthyosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

These ichthyosaurs appeared around the world during the early Bajosian period, about 170 million years ago, after which most other ichthyosaur lineages disappeared during the late Toarthian period, 174 million years ago.

Two lineages of Ophthalmosauridae are known. One contains two genera, Agilosaurus and Ophthalmosaurus, and the other contains three genera: Brachypterygius, Caprisaurus, and Platypterygius.

The newly identified species is Platypterygius elsuntuoso, belonging to the latter genus.

This marine reptile swam in the early Barremian seas, about 125 million years ago.

“The morphology of the new specimen is consistent with diagnostic features of Platypterygius, supporting its inclusion in this genus,” said lead author Dr. María Paramo Fonseca and colleagues from the National University of Colombia and the National Geological Museum José Royo y Gómez.

“The difference between this specimen and all others in the Platypterygius genus supports the establishment of the new species, Platypterygius elsuntuoso.”

Platypterygius elsuntuoso holotype. Scale bar – 10 cm. Image credit: Paramo Fonseca others, doi: 10.15446/esrj.v28n2.112332.

Fossilized remains of a juvenile or subadult Platypterygius elsuntuoso were collected in 1999 by researchers at the Columbia Geobiological Foundation.

The specimen consists of a nearly complete skull, several axial elements including the atlantoaxial and several cervical vertebrae, the left coracoid, and several phalanges.

“This specimen was discovered in a concretion in the La Cabrera hill northwest of Villa de Leyva (Boyaca, Colombia), where the Arcilolitas Abigaladas Formation of the Paja Formation is exposed,” the paleontologists said.

“Because its exact geographic origin is unknown, its exact stratigraphic position could not be determined.”

“However, numerous ammonoid specimens have been extracted from the same stone, some of which have been preliminarily identified as ammonoid specimens of Acanthopticoceras.”

The researchers made morphological comparisons of Platypterygius elsuntuoso with ophthalmosaur ichthyosaurs of the Cretaceous and Late Jurassic periods.

They also revised the genus Platypterygius based on published descriptions and first-hand observations of Colombian materials.

“We have come to the conclusion that Platypterygius is a genus distinguished by a distinctive forelimb structure and a specific combination of cranial features,” they said.

“We revised that diagnosis to accept that Barremian to lower Cenomanian species are valid: Platypterygius platydactylus, Platypterygius americanus, Platypterygius australis, Platypterygius hercinus, Platypterygius sachicarum, Platypterygius virjucobi, and the new species Platypterygius elsuntuoso.”

“Therefore, Platypterygius was a cosmopolitan genus that diversified as it conquered oceans from the Early Cretaceous to the Early Late Cretaceous.”

The discovery of Platypterygius elsuntuoso is reported in a paper in Earth Science Research Journal.

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Maria E. Paramo-Fonseca others. 2024. new species Platypterygius Evaluation of the species composition of (Ophthalmosauridae) and their genera from the Lower Barremian of Columbia. Earth Science Resolution J 28 (2): 103-126;doi: 10.15446/esrj.v28n2.112332

Source: www.sci.news

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Massive Triassic Ichthyosaur

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Ichthyotitan severnensis It lived in the Triassic seas around 202 million years ago and may have grown over 25 meters (82 feet) long.

Ichthyotitan severnensis. Image credit: Gabriel Uguet.

Ichthyosaurs are dolphin-like marine reptiles known from hundreds of fossils from the time of the dinosaurs.

These creatures ranged in size from less than a meter to over 20 meters (65 feet) in length.

All animals gave birth to live young in the sea, and some had giant eyes and so-called warm-blooded physiology, and some were fast swimmers and deep divers.

“Ichthyosaurs first evolved during the early Triassic period, about 250 million years ago,” said Dr Dean Lomax and colleagues from the Universities of Bristol and Manchester.

“Within a few million years, some ichthyosaurs evolved to reach lengths of 15 meters or more, and by the late Triassic period (about 200 million years ago), the largest fish, including the newly described ichthyosaurs. The dragon has evolved. Ichthyotitan severnensis“

“But this reign didn’t necessarily last long. Some species of ichthyosaurs continued to roam the oceans for millions of years, but these ‘giant ichthyosaurs’ It is thought to have become extinct during the Tatami-Jurassic extinction event. And this unique group of marine reptiles never reached such a world again. Huge size.”

two fragmentary jaw bones Ichthyotitan severnensis Collected from the uppermost layer of the Triassic period Westbury Mudstone Formation Located in Somerset, England.

Based on the length of the fossil, the new species could have been a whopping 25 meters long, or twice as long as a city bus.

“In 2018, my team studied and described a giant jawbone, and we were hopeful that one day another jawbone would be revealed,” Dr. Lomax said.

“The new specimen is more complete and better preserved, showing that there are two large bones (called quadrilateral bones) with unique shapes and structures.”

“It’s quite amazing to think that gigantic ichthyosaurs, the size of blue whales, were swimming in the seas around Britain during the Triassic period.”

“These jaw bones provide intriguing evidence that perhaps someday the complete skull or skeleton of these giants may be discovered. You never know.”

discovery of Ichthyotitan severnensis is explained in paper in diary PLoS ONE.

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DR Lomax other. 2024. The last giant: new evidence of a giant Late Triassic (Rhaetian) ichthyosaur from Britain. PLoS ONE 19 (4): e0300289; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300289

Source: www.sci.news

Gigantic ancient ichthyosaur discovered on UK coast may be the biggest marine reptile in history

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Illustration of a carcass of Ichthyotitan severnensis washed up on the beach

Sergey Krasovsky

The fossilized remains of an ancient 200 million-year-old ichthyosaur unearthed on the coast of southwest England may be some of the largest marine reptiles ever discovered.

In 2020, amateur fossil hunters stumbled upon a huge chunk of bone at Blue Anchor Beach in Somerset. Upon further inspection, dean lomax He and his colleagues at the University of Manchester in England quickly realized that it was a fragment of the jawbone of a giant ichthyosaur, a type of reptile that roamed the oceans between 250 million and 90 million years ago. Noticed.

Subsequent excavations on the beach uncovered 11 more fragments, and the team was able to partially piece together the bone at the back of the jaw, called the mandible.

This latest discovery is A 2018 report describing a similar ichthyosaur jawbone Found on another Somerset beach. At the time, the research team did not have enough evidence to identify the species.

“It was clear that this was another giant jawbone,” Lomax said. “So I was very, very excited.”

After comparing the partial exohorn bone with the complete exoskeleton of other ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the entire bone was at least 2 meters long, meaning the animal was about 20 to 25 meters long.

“We're working on something really huge,” Lomax says. “It would definitely be the largest officially described marine reptile.”

The properties of the exoceratops, which match those reported in 2018, mean both fossils must belong to previously undescribed ichthyosaur species, Lomax said.named by the team Ichthyotitan severnensismeaning giant fish lizard of the River Severn.

The site is about 202 million years old, just before the great global extinction event that wiped out many species, including many giant ichthyosaurs.

“They are quite literally the last giants,” Lomax says. “No ichthyosaur will ever come close to this size again.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com