Discovered near Golden Cap in 2001 by Dorset fossil collector Chris Moore, the fossil is almost perfectly preserved in three dimensions. The skeleton includes a skull with huge eye sockets and a long, sword-shaped snout. Scientists say the animal was about 3 meters long and likely ate fish and squid. The ruins may contain traces of their last meal. It is probably the most complete form of prehistoric reptile from the Flinsbach era in the world.
The discovery was published today in the journal Paleontology by three international paleontologists led by Dr Dean Lomax, an ichthyosaur expert and honorary fellow at the University of Manchester, who had been a fellow at the University of Bristol in 1851.
Dr. Lomax said: I remember seeing the skeleton for the first time in 2016. We knew it was unusual at the time, but we didn't expect it to play a pivotal role in helping to fill gaps in our understanding of complex faunal turnover during the Pliensbachian period. This time is very important for ichthyosaurs, as several families became extinct and new ones emerged, but Xiphodracon is what could be called the missing piece of the ichthyosaur puzzle. It is more closely related to species from the Late Jurassic (Toarcian), and the discovery helps pinpoint when the faunal turnover occurred, much earlier than expected.
Since its discovery in 2001, the skeleton has been acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada, where it has become part of its extensive ichthyosaur collection, but has not yet been studied.
Ichthyosaurs from the Pliensbachian (193184 million years ago) are incredibly rare, making Xiphodracon an important piece of evidence for scientists studying an important but poorly understood time in ichthyosaur evolution.
Ichthyosaur expert and co-author Professor Judy Massare of the State University of New York at Brockport, USA, said: Thousands of complete or nearly complete ichthyosaur skeletons are known from pre- and post-Plinsbachian strata. Despite their similar overall ecology, the two fauna are very distinct animals that have nothing in common. Clearly, major changes in species diversity occurred sometime in the Pliensbachian. Xiphodracon helps us determine when the change occurred, but we don't yet know why.
Co-author Dr. Erin Maxwell, ichthyosaur expert at the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, added: "Not only do these skeletons provide important information in understanding the evolution of ichthyosaurs, they also contribute to our understanding of what life might have been like in Britain's Jurassic seas. The limb bones and teeth are misshapen in ways that indicate serious injury or disease while the animals were still alive, and the skulls are visible from large predators - likely a much larger species of ichthyosaurs. appears to have been bitten by an animal and is the cause of its death. Life in the Mesozoic oceans was a risky prospect.
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