According to LiveScience, the fossil is that of a sea monster, which, if ichthyosaurs (fish-shaped marine reptiles) are to be believed, rapidly grew to enormous sizes. The duration of growth was only 2.5 million years. According to a scientific news website, it took whales almost 90% of their 55 million-year lifespan to achieve the enormous sizes that ichthyosaurs developed to during the first 1% of their 150 million-year history.
Lars Schmitz, Senior Researcher and Associate Professor of Biology at Scripps College, commented in reference to the fossil, “We have revealed that ichthyosaurs evolved gigantism far more quickly than whales. [Particularly] during a time when the planet was healing from a catastrophic extinction. During the conclusion of the Permian Era.”
Schmitz further noted that the fossil is an indication of the tenacity of life and a light of hope. If environmental circumstances are favorable, evolution can occur rapidly and life can recover.
When Were the First Ichthyosaur Fossils Discovered?
According to LiveScience, researchers first discovered ichthyosaur fossils in 1998. It was discovered in the Augusta Mountains’ rock formations. Situated in Northern Nevada. Schmitz added, “Only a few vertebrae were protruding out of the rock. Yet, it was evident the animal was huge.”
But, it wasn’t until 2015 that researchers were able to fully unearth one ichthyosaur with the use of a helicopter. The fossil was notable for including a cranium, shoulder, and appendage resembling flippers. The fossil is being analyzed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
The team that just unearthed the fossil gave it the name Cymbospondylus youngiorum. The “big-jawed” Maine reptile lived during the Triassic epoch 247 million years ago. Schmitz, describing the creature, stated, “Picture an animal like a sea dragon. Streamlined body, relatively long, with arms, changed to fins. With a lengthy tail.”
The fossil’s head measured 6.5 feet in length. The monster reportedly existed in the Panthalᴀssic Ocean, a so-called superocean, off the west coast of North America. Schmitz said that it likely ate smaller ichthyosaurs, fish, and maybe squid.
C. youngorum existed just 5 million years after the Great Extinction. Prior to 252 million years ago, this mass extinction catastrophe happened. It concluded the Permian era. It also wiped off almost 90 percent of the world’s species. Schmitz further stated, “This new fossil demonstrates remarkably the rapid development of gigantism in ichthyosaurs. In contrast, whales traveled a different path to gigantism, one that was more longer and less rapid.”
Paleontologists Lene Delsett and Nicholas Pyenson add, “The history of ichthyosaurs teaches us that ocean giants are not a given in marine environments. It is an important lesson for everyone in the Anthropocene.”