In a recently published study, there is a very exciting thing, scientists near Kimoridge Bay in the United Kingdom have found very well-preserved small marine reptiles from sediments in the deep sea. This reptile, which has been around for 150 million years, is one of ichthyosaurs, a marine carnivore that lived in the late Jurassic period. It looks a bit like a dolphin, but it's also a bit like a shark, like a combination of these two animals, and when it is alive, it will hunt squid or other marine creatures for food to fill its stomach.
After its discovery, it was named Thalassodraco etchesi, of which etchesi was used to commemorate Steve Etches, a collector who discovered ichthyosaur fossils. The eyes and chest of this ichthyosaur are very large, which means that in the deep sea it can see a lot of creatures through its huge eyes, and it also has a very strong lung capacity. But its body is much smaller than other marine species, and it has unique characteristics that other fish don't have, so the researchers have classified it as a new species.
Humans have been excavating ichthyosaur fossils for two hundred years, but it is not easy to find a novel species in the excavation, it is very rare. But people have discovered this new species of ichthyosaur, which is a very fortunate thing for people, hoping to find more new species in the future, so that humans have a deeper understanding of prehistoric species.
Jacobs and David Martill took a high-resolution photograph of the new species of ichthyosaur fossils, so after taking the fossils, they found that this long-beaked reptile marine animal, its tail and dorsal fin are very similar to sharks, it is completely living in the ocean world, it will also surface from the ocean like a dolphin, and then breathe. This discovery has made people's understanding of this species a step further, and it has also deeply attracted people's attention with its own small body, because of its magic, people want to understand what it is all about, what kind of creature it is, and what kind of habits it has.
Through continuous research, it has been found that only one side of the jawbone of this fossil can be seen, and its lower part is not well preserved, but the upper part is relatively well preserved. The researchers counted about 50 teeth on a quarter of its jaw, which were not only small but also smooth, and a quarter of the jaw counted about 50 teeth, which means that it has about two hundred tiny teeth.
Many other ichthyosaurs in the Jurassic era generally had few teeth and their teeth were very large, but this ichthyosaur had very small teeth, and these tiny teeth were like a natural cage, and ichthyosaurs could use it to trap prey.
The newly discovered ichthyosaur had very strong ligaments in its ribs, neck, and back, which may have been connected to its skull and stiffened its body and head. Compared with the same period, this ichthyosaur is very small, it is only 2.5 meters long, which is really very small compared to other ichthyosaurs. The excavation of ichthyosaur fossils has not stopped, and it is hoped that in the future, people will be able to discover more species and then solve their secrets.