Scientists discovered a first ever amphibious “Ichthyosaur”.  It is a new type of the ancient marine reptile which lived on both water and land.

This new specimen reveals a connection between dolphin like “Ichthyosaur” and its other land based family members

Ichthyosaurus was a group of marine reptiles which lived both on land and water.  It first emerged approximately 200 million years ago.  Later on, it shifted from land to sea between the Jurassic times periods that occurred nearly 200 million years ago.

Unfortunately, scientists do not have sufficient proof of this transition.

Recently, experts of China found remnants of a small Ichthyosaur. The recent discovered fossil is nearly 248 million years ago.

Ryosuke Motani, the lead author of this report stated that this fossil fills the evolutionary gap of this specie.

Motani along with his colleagues found this fossil from the China’s Anhui Province. The researchers determined this fossil through its long flexible flippers.  These flippers permit the seal to travel between sand beaches and rock.

This newly discovered Ichthyosaur has a short nose like the rest of the terrestrial reptiles.

Valentin Fischer, a paleontologist informed that no doubt this sample is certainly very different from the other Ichthyosaur.

The study is published in the most recent edition of Journal Nature.