Reptilian dolphins' ancestor was much smaller and had weird teeth

11 May 2020

Reptilian dolphins’ ancestor was much smaller and had weird teeth

Reptilian dolphins’ ancestor was much smaller and had weird teethDid you know, 'ichthyosaurs' were the main predators of the oceans millions of years ago?

They looked like reptilian dolphins with very sharp teeth. They grew between 10 and 43 feet long. These went extinct 95 million years ago.

Recently, scientists have found that early ichthyosaurs were very different from the scary predators they eventually became.

They analysed a 2014 CT-scan of a fossil belonging to the earliest and smallest ichthyosaur species, Cartorhynchus lenticarpus.

This creature lived 248 million years ago and it only grew to be about a foot long.
 	It had pebble-like teeth and looked more like a combination of a tadpole and a seal.
 	It was also not a scary predator, mostly eating snails and clams.
 	What is even more interesting is that Cartorhynchus lenticarpus evolved after the Permian mass extinction.
 	Permian Mass extinction was a natural event, which killed most of the animals in the ocean and land as well.

By studying the evolution of ichthyosaurs, scientists can understand how life rebounds after extinctions and if that can help us today too.

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Did you know, ‘ichthyosaurs’ were the main predators of the oceans millions of years ago? They looked like reptilian dolphins with very sharp teeth. They […]

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Comments: 2

Sanaa says:

11 May 2020 at 7:37 pm

why did you not give videos in this news

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- curioustimes says:
  
  12 May 2020 at 9:57 am
  
  Dear Sanaa
  
  As soon as we find one associated with the news, we will share with you.
  
  Stay Curious!
  
  Log in to Reply

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