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#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2

author:Jiang's microraptor

#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian!

The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha (Figure 2), is one of the earliest lizards to enter the sea during the Mesozoic era, and the earliest members of this family date back to the Early Triassic period 248 million years ago (Figure 3, belonging to the early ichthyosaur suborder Amysiform), which finally disappeared in the late Cretaceous.

In terms of age of survival, the ichthyosaur family is undoubtedly the most successful and longest-lived sea dragon family in the Mesozoic era, but paleontologists have found some fossils belonging to the early ichthyosaur superorder in the formation of the Vikinghøgda Formation (Figure 4) in Norway, including 11 vertebrae and other scattered parts, number: PMO 245.975 (Figure 5). By studying the morphology of the fossilized vertebrae, it can be determined that the fossils belong to the distal tail vertebrae and have the characteristics of adapting to ocean-going life. According to these fossils, the ichthyosaur was up to 3 meters long and was already able to swim freely in the ocean.

The Viking Hegda formation is dated 250 million years ago, so the newly discovered ichthyosaurs are about 2 million years earlier than the earliest ichthyosaurs previously discovered, and the 250 million years is only 2 million years after the famous Permian mass extinction. Based on the pelagic features of the new fossils, paleontologists have made a bold hypothesis: the earliest ichthyosaurs may have gone into the sea during the Late Permian, rather than taking advantage of the gap in marine niches after the mass extinction and rapidly evolving.

If true, it would rewrite the history of the sea crawling into the sea and prolong the survival of the entire ichthyosaur family, but more fossil material is needed to prove this hypothesis. Maybe one day in the future, paleontologists will find ichthyosaurs from the Permian period.

#Science##恐龙 #

Text Editor: Jiang's Microraptor

The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted

#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2
#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2
#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2
#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2
#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2
#所见所得, very scientific#ichthyosaurus may have gone into the sea in the Permian! The ichthyosaur family, also known as Ichthyosauromorpha, Figure 2

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