Jawbone finding, research show new history of giant marine reptiles
Some giant marine reptiles may have been much larger than scientists initially thought.
The creatures were so big that bone fragments can be easily mistaken for those of dinosaurs, researchers said in a new study published Monday. Some ichthyosaurs were even as large or larger than Late Triassic dinosaurs living at the same time, the researchers said.
The largest ichthyosaurs, whose name means “fish lizard,” may have lived some 200 million to 235 million years ago. Scientists have previously found fossils of the creatures around the world, from China to the U.S., and it’s the state fossil of Nevada.
The giant marine reptile may have been one of the largest animals to have ever lived, a group of paleontologists said, according to a .
The jawbone belonged to an ichthyosaur that could have been 85 feet in length, approaching the size of many blue whales.
Most ichthyosaurs were much smaller than the newly discovered one, .
The new research, , relates to a bone found on a beach in southwest England in May 2016, according to the University of Manchester.
The finding means that other bones found in the U.K., which supposedly belonged to dinosaurs, are in fact jaw fragments of giant, previously unrecognized ichthyosaurs, the University of Manchester reported.