Cymbospondylus

Cymbospondylus piscosus · Cymbospondylus was a large, slender extinct ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the Triassic in what are now North America and Europe.

It lived about 251 to 242 million years ago.

Cymbospondylus
Photo: SpinoDragon145, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cymbospondylus
Photo: Neil Pezzoni, CC BY 4.0
Cymbospondylus
Photo: Neil Pezzoni, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderIchthyosauria
FamilyCymbospondylidae
GenusCymbospondylus
SpeciesCymbospondylus piscosus

Where its fossils were found

Nevada and Idaho (USA), Switzerland, the Alps and Svalbard (Norway).

Fun facts

  • The biggest species, C. youngorum, is estimated at over 17 metres long, making it one of the largest animals of its time.
  • Cymbospondylus had a long, trunk-heavy, slender body that looked more like an eel than the dolphin-like shape of later ichthyosaurs.
  • One fossil from Switzerland had a stomach full of nothing but the hooks of soft-bodied squid-like cephalopods, a clue to its last meal.
  • Scientists think Cymbospondylus may have been an ambush predator, using a flexible, undulating body and a powerful tail for bursts of speed.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).