Ichthyosaurus is a small marine reptile, measuring around 2m in length – far smaller than other genera of ichthyosaurs, which can grow up to 25m. Its paddle-like limbs and streamlined body allow it to move at great speed through water, catching its prey in its long, thin snout. Ichthyosaurus is a piscivore, with a diet consisting mostly of fish and squid.
Discovery
Celebrated English paleontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning discovered Ichthyosaurus in 1811 along with her brother Joseph, when they uncovered a skeleton while digging for fossils in Lyme Regis, on the south coast of England. The remains were initially thought to be those of a crocodile – almost 200 years later, at the beginning of the 21st Century, advances in knowledge allowed Anning's find to be classified as a new genus.
Paleoecology
Ichthyosaurus lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods, around 120-220 million years ago. This genus lived in the ocean and did not venture onto land, swimming the seas of Europe and Asia – it even gave birth in water.
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