Mixosaurus
| Mixosaurus | ||||||||||||
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Mixosaurus |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Triassic ( Anisium to Ladinium ) | ||||||||||||
| 247.2 to 235 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Mixosaurus | ||||||||||||
| Baur , 1887 |
Mixosaurus ("mixed lizard") is a representative of the extinct ichthyosaurs from the Middle Triassic . It was described by George H. Baur in 1887. Fossils of Mixosaurus found almost worldwide. Several hundred specimens were excavated on Monte San Giorgio in Ticino , including a pregnant female, the first evidence of the viviparity of ichthyosaurs.
Mixosaurus was a transitional form between primitive ichthyosaurs with an eel-like elongated body like Cymbospondylus and the more modern forms, which had a shape similar to today's dolphins . The name of the genus also refers to this transitional character .
Mixosaurus was about three feet long. Its tail was elongated, the spine did not bend down to support a crescent-shaped caudal fin, as in later Jurassic ichthyosaurs. It is possible that the tail had a fin hem on its upper side. The limbs still had five toes but were already clearly transformed into fins. The pectoral fins were longer than the pelvic fins. The front teeth were pointed and sharp, the molars blunt. The large eyes were encased in small plates of bone.
species
- M. atavus
- M. kuhnschnyderi
- M. cornalianus
literature
- Robert L. Carroll : Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates. Thieme, Stuttgart et al. 1993, ISBN 3-13-774401-6 .
- Richard Ellis : Sea Dragons. Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS 2003, ISBN 0-7006-1269-6 .
