In the Mesozoic, the time of the dinosaurs, from 252 to 66 million years ago, marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were top predators in the oceans. But their origins and early rise to dominance have been ...
Archaeology
May 20, 2016
0
54
Today's sea turtles are the sole survivors of a once diverse ecosystem of marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs. Sea turtles first appeared during the Cretaceous period, 130-140 million years ago and likely evolved from ...
Evolution
Nov 30, 2015
0
54
Among the many groups of marine reptiles from the Age of Dinosaurs, elasmosaurs are famous for their necks, which can have up to 76 vertebrae and make up more than half the total length of the animal. These "sea dragons" ...
Archaeology
Oct 22, 2015
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22
The world's first study into the brain anatomy of an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, has shed light on how the reptilian brain adapted to life in the oceans. The work, led by University ...
Archaeology
Jun 12, 2015
0
70
A species of bone-eating worm that was believed to have evolved in conjunction with whales has been dated back to prehistoric times when it fed on the carcasses of giant marine reptiles.
Plants & Animals
Apr 14, 2015
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670
A new species of marine reptile from the Jurassic era has been identified from fossils found on the Isle of Skye.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 12, 2015
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1767
The first fossil of an amphibious ichthyosaur has been discovered in China by a team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The discovery is the first to link the dolphin-like ichthyosaur to its terrestrial ...
Archaeology
Nov 5, 2014
8
0
Trackways formed on an ancient seabed have shed new light on how nothosaurs, ancient marine reptiles that lived during the age of the dinosaurs, propelled themselves through water. The evidence is described by a team from ...
Archaeology
Jun 11, 2014
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0
The cache of skeletal ichthyosaurs stumbled upon ten years ago in Chile turns out to be one of the world's most significant fossil finds of marine reptiles from the Cretaceous period, containing many nearly fully preserved ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 4, 2014
0
0
In a new study published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, geoscientists Wolfgang Stinnesbeck of the University of Heidelberg and colleagues document the discovery of forty-six ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs (marine ...
Archaeology
Jun 3, 2014
1
0
