A New Ophthalmosaurid (Ichthyosauria) from Svalbard, Norway, and Evolution of the Ichthyopterygian Pelvic Girdle [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2017 In spite of a fossil record spanning over 150 million years, pelvic girdle evolution in Ichthyopterygia is poorly known. Here, we examine pelvic girdle size relationships using quantitative methods and new ophthalmosaurid material from the Slottsmøya ...
Lene L Delsett +2 more
exaly +7 more sources
OPHTHALMOSAURIDS (ICHTHYOSAURIA: THUNNOSAURIA): ALPHA TAXONOMY, CLADES AND NAMES [PDF]
Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina, 2015 . Thunnosaurian ichthyosaurs represent the paradigm of reptilian body designed for a pelagic life style. Most derived thunnosaurian, the ophthalmosaurids, have been traditionally considered as members of a declining lineage.
Marta S. Fernandez, Lisandro Campos
doaj +7 more sources
Ontogenetic Tooth Reduction in Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria): Negative Allometry, Changes in Growth Rate, and Early Senescence of the Dental Lamina [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2015 We explore the functional, developmental, and evolutionary processes which are argued to produce tooth reduction in the extinct marine reptile Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria). We analyze the relationship between mandible growth and
Erin E Maxwell
exaly +3 more sources
A large new Middle Jurassic ichthyosaur shows the importance of body size evolution in the origin of the Ophthalmosauria [PDF]
BMC Ecology and EvolutionThe Middle Jurassic is an important time period for the evolutionary history of marine reptiles as it represented a transitional phase for many clades. Notably, in ichthyosaurs, many early parvipelvian taxa went extinct.
Feiko Miedema +4 more
doaj +4 more sources
Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early–Middle Jurassic transition [PDF]
PeerJ, 2021 Even though a handful of long-lived reptilian clades dominated Mesozoic marine ecosystems, several biotic turnovers drastically changed the taxonomic composition of these communities.
Valentin Fischer, Robert Weis, Ben Thuy
doaj +3 more sources
Descriptive anatomy of the largest known specimen of Protoichthyosaurus prostaxalis (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) including computed tomography and digital reconstruction of a three-dimensional skull [PDF]
PeerJ, 2019 Ichthyosaur fossils are abundant in Lower Jurassic sediments with nine genera found in the UK. In this paper, we describe the partial skeleton of a large ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (lower Sinemurian) of Warwickshire, England, which was conserved
Dean R. Lomax +2 more
doaj +3 more sources
Whole-body endothermy: ancient, homologous and widespread among the ancestors of mammals, birds and crocodylians. [PDF]
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc, 2022 ABSTRACT The whole‐body (tachymetabolic) endothermy seen in modern birds and mammals is long held to have evolved independently in each group, a reasonable assumption when it was believed that its earliest appearances in birds and mammals arose many millions of years apart.
Grigg G +5 more
europepmc +2 more sources
Ontogenetic variation in the cranium of Mixosaurus cornalianus, with implications for the evolution of ichthyosaurian cranial development [PDF]
Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, 2023 Relatively complete ontogenetic series are comparatively rare in the vertebrate fossil record. This can create biases in our understanding of morphology and evolution, since immaturity can represent a source of unrecognized intraspecific variation in ...
Feiko Miedema +4 more
doaj +2 more sources
Cranial anatomy of Besanosaurus leptorhynchus Dal Sasso & Pinna, 1996 (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio, Italy/Switzerland: taxonomic and palaeobiological implications [PDF]
PeerJ, 2021 Besanosaurus leptorhynchus Dal Sasso & Pinna, 1996 was described on the basis of a single fossil excavated near Besano (Italy) nearly three decades ago. Here, we re-examine its cranial osteology and assign five additional specimens to B.
Gabriele Bindellini +4 more
doaj +3 more sources
The fossil record of ichthyosaurs, completeness metrics and sampling biases [PDF]
Palaeontology, Volume 58, Issue 3, Page 521-536, May 2015., 2015 Ichthyosaurs were highly successful marine reptiles with an abundant and well-studied fossil record. However, their occurrences through geological time and space are sporadic, and it is important to understand whether times of apparent species richness ...
Benton, Michael J. +6 more
core +3 more sources