Ichthyosaurus
IK-thee-uh-SAWR-us
Ichthyosaurus is a small marine reptile, measuring around 2m in length – far smaller than other genera of ichthyosaurs, which can grow up to 25m. Its paddle-like limbs and streamlined body allow it to move at great speed through water, catching its prey in its long, thin snout. Ichthyosaurus is a piscivore, with a diet consisting mostly of fish and squid.
Discovery
Celebrated English palaeontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning discovered Ichthyosaurus in 1811 along with her brother Joseph, when they uncovered a skeleton while digging for fossils in Lyme Regis, on the south coast of England. The remains were initially thought to be those of a crocodile – almost 200 years later, at the beginning of the 21st Century, advances in knowledge allowed Anning’s find to be classified as a new genus.
Palaeoecology
Ichthyosaurus lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods, around 120-220 million years ago. This genus lived in the ocean and did not venture onto land, swimming the seas of Europe and Asia – it even gave birth in water.
Information
- Era
- Late Triassic
- Family
- Ichthyosauridae
- Genus
- Ichthyosaurus
- Height
- 1M
- Length
- 2M
- Weight
- 163Kg
- Diet
- Shoal
- Egg batch size
- 2 - 5
