Paleo-Geek Presents: Ichthyosaur -Ichthyosaurs, from the very appropriate Greek for fish lizard, were an order of marine reptiles that first came into being during the Triassic period 250 million year ago. They survived until roughly 90 million years ago, when the faster and larger Pleaiosaurs took over. - Ichthyosaurs are a classic example of what biologist call convergent evolution. Similar to modern day whales and dolphins, the ancestors of Ichthyosaurs started out on land and adapted to life in the water. They even evolved to look fairly similar to one another, though one was a reptile and the other a mammal. -This particular order of extinct creatures is one of the oldest known. The first bones discovered were found in the late 17th century but were believed at that time to have come from a fish. -Ichthyosaurs varied in size from as small as 3 feet to as large as 50 feet or more! Some specimens have even been diacovered that scientists speculate could have been as large as 80 feet. -Much like modern whales and porpoises, it is believed that many this species lived in large family groups. Other theories had them as cannibalistic to their young, who would flee immediately upon birth. -In his famous work The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed the ichthyosaurs as being a semi-aquatic creature, similar to seals. This was, in large part, due to poor understanding of prehistoric creatures and their behavior that was prevalent in that time. -Early reconstructions of Ichthyosaur models omitted the dorsal fin, as one is not obvious in most fossilized remains. However, several well preserved specimens in China demonstrated this adaptation and all future models were shown this way. -Despite the fact that almost all modern reptiles are exothermic, or cold blooded, it is widely believed that these marine reptile were endothermic(warm blooded). This would explain both their large size and dominance in the ancient seas. OUTRO: Though this one seemed a bit fishy at first, I think we sailed through the history of our ancient marine reptiles smoothly. And remember guys, if you have a prehistoric creature that youd like to see in a future installment, feel free to shoot us a message or leave it in the comments below. Also, dont forget to like and share this with your friends! Thats all for this week guys and we will see you next Sunday with a brand new Paleo-Geek. Have a great day everyone. DISCLAIMER: All images used in this segment are property of Google Image search. I do not own said images and all images obtained from Google are the property of their respected users and copyrights. To Learn More: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyosaur
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 13:51:40 +0000
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