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AN new study from Colombia has announced the discovery of a new marine reptile. The reptile is one of the last remaining ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs are a type of marine reptile that lived during the Cretaceous Period. The Latin name for ichthyosaurs means “fish lizard” due to their marine habitat but lizard-like characteristics.
The skull of this particular ichthyosaur was found. The well-preserved skull is almost a meter long and has a long bill similar to today’s swordfish. The skull also has a different style of teeth compared to other ichthyosaurs. The Kyhytysuka, or the one that cuts with something sharp, has teeth that are more adept at eating large prey such as large fish or other marine reptiles.
The reptile is difficult to describe because it is so different from any living animal. However, McGill University has a animated video with an imagined image of the Kyhtysuka.
The discovery of the Kyhytysuka comes at a time when many fossils from the late Cretaceous are being discovered in the Colombia region. This indicates that Colombia may have been a biodiversity hotspot just before the late Cretaceous extinction.
History of Ichthyosaurs
Ichthyosaurs are one of the best-preserved dinosaur fossils out there. Species from the Jurassic period have been uncovered in impressive detail from the bottom of the Jurassic Sea in what is now Western Europe.
However, despite their preservation, ichthyosaurs are one of the more mysterious dinosaurs in history. According to research, the ichthyosaurs became extinct about ten million years ago, just before the Cretaceous extinction. Before their extinction, this species ruled the oceans. They varied greatly in size, with some species being smaller than modern times porpoises while others were as big as today’s whales.
Despite their prolific migratory patterns and species diversity, there are no contemporary relatives of ichthyosaurs. Whales were once believed to be their descendants, but that theory was rejected because ichthyosaurs never had blubber.
Nevertheless, researchers have spent a lot of time studying ichthyosaurs to better understand the reptile fish. At one point they compared the animal with modern times platypus, another evolutionary puzzle. Despite the related names that stayed with the genus for decades, ichthyosaurs are not really related to the egg-laying mammal.
It’s more likely that the ichthyosaur simply didn’t evolve fast enough to keep up with changing geological forces, ultimately leading to the extinction of the genus.
What the discovery of Kyhytysuka could mean for future research?
Researchers have stated that this species of ichthyosaur comes from a key period in the Cretaceous Period and that its discovery could answer some of their questions about the evolution of the ichthyosaur during this transitional period.
After the extinction of the Jurassic period, many species of reptiles, mammals and more were exterminated. The early Cretaceous came next and was a wild transition period, not only for evolution, but also for the Earth.
The earth came out of a cool period. Pangea fell apart and the oceans rose. Due to the extinction of the Jurassic, many marine ecosystems in the Jurassic with deep-water feeding ichthyosaurs and Jurassic crocodiles were followed by new genera of sea turtles, large sea lizards and now the Kyhytysuka.
This discovery gives researchers new insight into these evolutionary processes during this transition period. Combined with the other fossils discovered in Colombia, researchers may be able to paint a clearer picture of the marine ecosystems of the Cretaceous Period.
This will ultimately help answer the question: What evolutionary mess caused the extinction of ichthyosaurs?
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