Researchers have identified a new ichthyosaur species from the Jurassic era. A team of researchers from Switzerland and Germany, led by Gaël Spicher of the JURASSICA Museum in Porrentruy (Switzerland), has identified a previously unknown…
A chance glance at a museum display has led to the first-ever discovery of an ichthyosaur fossil in western Japan, dating back around 220 million years. Initially mistaken for a common bivalve fossil, the specimen was revealed to contain…
A vertebrate fossil discovered in a rock from the Late Triassic period (approximately 220 million years ago) in Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture, has been confirmed through joint research by Okayama University of Science and other…
When large marine animals like whales die, they sink down to the seabed. Once their flesh has been stripped away by scavengers and microbes, their corpses are colonized by a variety of specialized invertebrates that feast on the fats and…
About 131 million years ago, an 11-foot-long ichthyosaur slammed snout first into the seafloor and was rapidly buried by sediments—a sequence of events that helped preserve not only her skeleton, but that of her unborn baby, along with the…
The enormous ichthyosaur could have reached lengths exceeding 80 feet (25 meters) and existed during the Late Triassic period. A recently identified ichthyosaur species may...
Several similar large, fossilized bone fragments have been discovered in various regions across Western and Central Europe since the 19th century. The animal group to which they belonged is still the subject of much debate to this day. A…
Several similar large, fossilized bone fragments have been discovered in various regions across Western and Central Europe since the 19th century. The animal group to which they belonged is still the subject of much debate to this day. A…
The finding has forced a revision of the textbook interpretation, revealing that ichthyosaurs probably first stepped into marine environments before the end-Permian mass extinction.