Capital Wired

Keeps You Updated

Saturday, January 16, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Health
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • World
  • US
  • Latest News
    • How To Make Your Own Home-Brewed Morphine
    • Using Mouthwash Too Often Puts You at Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
    • Walmart to Solve its Supply Chain Issues and Further Cut Down on Costs
    • The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Decorations
    • Netflix Hopes to Balance Data Limit With Great Video Quality
    • Joji Morishita says Japan Will Resume Whaling
    • The Most Beloved Plastic Surgeries Among Americans
    • Skype for Web Allows Non-Users to Take Part In Its Online Chats

Pages

  • About Capital Wired
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Reprint & Licensing
  • Staff
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Here’s Why Your Brain Keeps Worrying about Everything June 29, 2018
  • Don’t Throw That Sunscreen after Summer Is Up June 29, 2018
  • Analysts: Currency War between U.S. and China Might Be Looming June 28, 2018
  • Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops June 27, 2018
  • Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe June 26, 2018
  • Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders June 26, 2018
  • Beware of the Hidden Salt in Your Food! June 25, 2018

Bizarre ‘Fish Lizard,’ The Oldest Of Its Kind, Unearthed by Paleontologists

November 6, 2014 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

Oldest-known-Fish-lizard-discovered

Recently, the researchers found a 248 million year old fossil of an ancient reptile in China, which is believed to be the oldest known member of a well-known group of marine reptiles, and might have lived both on land and in the sea.

The researchers revealed that the specimen is an ancient type of ichthyopterygian, a group related to ichthyosaurs, which are large marine reptiles that dominated the world’s oceans after the Permian-Triassic extinction. At that time, approximately 252 million years ago, around 96% of marine animals and 70% of land animals went extinct. Researchers said, the recently discovered fossil provides new evidence that ichthyosaurs evolved from creatures that lived on land. The study is published in the Nature journal on 5th Nov.

The lead-author of the study and a geologist at Peking University in China, Da-yong Jiang said, “This new animal is a link between the terrestrial ancestor and the ichthyosaurs fully adapted to a life in the sea.”

Ichthyosaurs, which is a Greek name for “fish lizard,” lived from about 248 million to 95 million years ago. The group was extremely diverse, with body lengths ranging from less than 3.3 feet (1 meter) to more than 66 feet (20 m).

Jiang told Live Science in an email, “So far, all known ichthyosaur fossils came from animals that lived exclusively in the ocean, and there was a huge gap in the fossil record between them and their ancestors. Scientists didn’t know whether their ancestors were reptiles or amphibians, and if they lived on land or not.”

The recent specimen named “Cartorhynchus lenticarpus” discovered by Jiang and his team is the smallest known ichthyosaur-type creature — only about 1.3 feet (0.4 m) long. “We think the animal is fully grown, but cannot rule out the possibility that the fossil is the remains of an immature form of a larger creature,” researchers say.

In contrast to other ichthyosaurs, the new specimen has oddly large flippers that perhaps limited its ability to get around on land, making it similar to a modern seal. It also has a short muzzle and body trunk, like other land reptiles, the researchers said.

Jiang said, “The animal was probably a suction feeder on the seafloor, and may have eaten worms or eel-like creatures called conodonts. The fossil is quite complete and well-preserved; just part of the animal’s tail is missing.”

The fossil is discovered during an excavation in Chaohu, South China, in 2011. During the dig, researchers found several skeletons of ancient ichthyosaurs and extinct aquatic reptiles called sauropterygians, as well as fishes and other creatures.

Sine 2002, Jiang and his colleagues have been doing excavations in South China, looking for the first ichthyosaur that “jumped into the sea,” he said, so the new discovery “is a milestone after our hard work for more than 10 years.”

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: 248 million years ago, 95 million years ago, Cartorhynchus lenticarpus, Chaohu, china, Da-yong Jiang, Fish lizard, ichthyopterygian, ichthyosaurs, Land, Live Science, Nature journal, Peking University, reptiles, sauropterygians, Sea, South China

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

dc logo on black galaxy background

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s New Gods Adaptation

March 16, 2018 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

leonardo davinci's signature in black

Is DaVinci’s Record Breaking Painting Authentic?

November 20, 2017 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

stephen hawking

Stephen Hawking Makes Gloomy Prediction For Earth In A 100 Years

May 7, 2017 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

"Dwayne Johnson not dead"

Dwayne Johnson Died this Week or Not

January 19, 2016 By Jason Leathers 3 Comments

There Are At Least Three More Seasons of Game of Thrones To Go

July 31, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Homelessness Soars in L.A., Officials Pledge to House Everybody by 2016

May 12, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

FBI Releases National Report on Slain Police Officers, Figures are Alarming

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New York Nuclear Plant Partially Shut Down due to Hudson Oil Slick

May 11, 2015 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

Obama Draws Heat from Democrats over Asia Trade Deal

May 9, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Florida Governor Changes Stance on Obamacare Once More, Budget on Hold

May 9, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Secret Service to add an Extra Layer of Spikes to White House Fence

May 8, 2015 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Police Arrested Suspect in death of Student who tried to Sell Car on Craigslist

May 8, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

AccuWeather.com: 2015 Atlantic Tropical Storm Season is Officially Open

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Illinois Student Found Dead after Trying to Sell his Car on Craigslist

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 2 Comments

Categories

  • Business
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Tech & Science
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalwired.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.