Mar 7, 2016
A study of Saurian morphology: Ichthyosauromorpha (part 1)
Because fish lizards.
Presenting the three early members of Ichthyosauromorpha, a.k.a. almost Ichthyosaurs. As enigmatic as ichtyosaur origins are, Hupehsuchus and Cartorhynchus were relatively small but already fully aquatic.
Utatsusaurus is one of the earliest basal ichthyosaurs, grouped under the name Ichthyopterygia. It likely had a less developed tail than later ichthyosaurs, having only a dorsal fin to propel itself with. This genus shows transitional features between ichthyosaur ancestors and the more derived forms that we will see in the next post.
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