#ichtyosaurs

[bobnichollsart]

Today's marine reptile artwork depicts a mother Nannopterygius giving birth. This is one of about 60 artworks I produced for Prof Michael J. Benton's book, DINOSAUR BEHAVIOR (published by Princeton University Press).

#SciArt #SciComm #PalaeoArt #PaleoArt #Art #Dinosaurs #Fossils #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Ichtyosaurs #JurassicWorld #Alt4Me

[willtheweaver]

Chose 1 to defend you. The rest will try and kill you.

1 Megladon

4 Swordfish

2 Orca

25 Garibaldi damselfish

1 Archelon

9 Goliath groupers

200 Coral guard crabs

1 Mosasaurus

3 Tiger sharks

1 Temnodontosaurus

1 Giant squid

20 Deadly sea wasp

Voting ended onSep 27, 2023

Yeah I know this poll is a little apex predator heavy, but to be frank, most sea creatures (living and extinct) would amount to nothing more than fish/whale/ichthyosaur/shark, etc. fodder and that would not make for a fun poll.

[nimalings]

#010: Ichtyosour

Ichtyosours secrete sweet juice from their skin to attract potential prey, and if a bigger creature bothers them, they secrete sour juice instead! While their sweet juice is normally reserved for their prey, if closely bonded to other creatures, they will share it with them! Refreshening!they're top predators in the mangroves they live in! No one knows how they're so successful, they are very round and have a short snout, but their population keeps on growing!

Inspired by Lemon Sharks, Ichthyosaurs and Lemons!

I also reworked them into a Pokémon for a little contest! With a shiny and a unique ability! It's also a remnant of when their name was Lemolemo! It's cute but i wanted something more interesting

[willtheweaver]

Chose 1 to defend you. The rest will try and kill you (3)

3 Tarpon

3 Humboldt squid

25 Sergeant majors (fish only)

50 Pacific sea nettles

1 sawfish

1 Kronosaurus

8 Banded sea kraits

1 Tylosaurus

1 Platypterygius

2 California sea lions

12 Chevron barracuda

15 Peacock mantis shrimp

Voting ended onDec 14, 2023

All animals will behave as they would in the wild (or closest approximation for prehistoric species) except your defender(s) will not cause friendly fire. Any attempt to harm and/or eat your defender(s) will cause them to abandon you.

[neo-jurassica]

Here is a cross-section view of the caudal vertebrae from our last post along with some of the larger vertebrae from the same #ichthyosaur skeleton! 🐬
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Follow @neojurassica to see more #prehistoric wonders! 🦕
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#ichthyosaurus #ichtyosaurs #dinosaurs #dinosaur #bones #skeleton #fossils #fossil #fossilhunting #fossilprep #geology #palaeontology #paleontology #paleobiology #science #nerdy #geeky #naturalhistory #nature #natural #naturephotography #extinct #animal #creature #archaeology #jurassic #jurassicpark #neojurassic
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCmIZomJQrt/?igshid=gk1j23208jwh

[moylis-blog]

Some dinosaurs for challenge

[scinote]

How the Ichthyosaur Got Its Fins

Have you ever wondered how aquatic reptiles evolved? No? Why not? Regardless, a new fossil discovered in 2011 is shedding light on these questions [1].

Ichthyosaurs are a class of extinct reptiles that ruled the oceans 250 million years ago [2]. Some were as large as blue whales. However, their evolution from the reptilian common ancestor has posed a problem: reptiles evolved on land while ichthyosaurs were ocean dwellers. The intermediary evolutionary steps have been a mystery. 

The mystery remained until 2011, when a fossil found in China showed what is believed to be a proto-ichthyosaur. This transitional specimen, with flippers for forelimbs and small hindlimbs, suggests that the link between ichthyosaurs and reptiles was a sea dwelling animal in the process of evolving into what would become the terrifying apex predators of the sea.

The Cartorhynchus lenticarpus [3] fossil (loosely translated as “short snout, flexible wrist”), shows that ancestral ichtyosaurs were aquatic, although they still shared traits in common with early terrestrial reptiles.

Paleontologists believe that this shows that ichthyosaurs evolved from reptiles that were already primarily aquatic, and that the old theory of walking semi-aquatic sea dinosaurs must therefore be incorrect.

The more we learn about the specifics of the history of life on earth, the more complete the picture we can put together of the origins of the spectrum of modern biodiversity will be.

NOTES:

[1] Perkins, S. How the ichthyosaur got its fins. Science News, November 5 (2014).

[2] Ichthyosaur Wikipedia page.

[3] Dell’Amore, C.   First Amphibious “Sea Monster” Found; Fills Evolutionary Gap. National Geographic, November 5 (2014).

Submitted by Kelsey M, Discoverer