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The fossil of
a 55-foot-long Triassic Sea monster, which lived during the early dinosaur age,
has reportedly been found in Nevada.
According to Live
Science, the fossil is that of the sea monster, which is suggested to be
ichthyosaurs (fish-shaped marine reptiles), grew to gigantic sizes extremely quickly.

The growth spanned was only 2.5 million years. The science news website stated that it took whales about 90% of their 55-million-year history to reach huge sizes that ichthyosaurs evolved to in the first 1% of their 150-million-year history.
Speaking about the
fossil, senior Researcher and Associate Professor of Biology at Scripps
College, Lars Schmitz, stated, “We have discovered that ichthyosaurs evolved
gigantism much faster than whales. [Especially] in a time where the world was
recovering from devastation extinction. At the end of the Permian Period.”
Schmitz also
stated that the fossil is a glimmer of hope and a sign of the resilience of
life. “If environmental conditions are right, evolution can happen
very fast, and life can bounce back.”
When were fossils
of Ichthyosaurs First Discovered?
Live Science also
reported that researchers first noticed the foѕѕіɩѕ
of ichthyosaurs in 1998. It was discovered in the rocks of the Augusta
Mountains. Located in North-western Nevada. Schmitz explained, “Only
a few vertebrae were sticking out of the rock. But it was clear the animal was
large.”
However, it wasn’t
until 2015 and with a help of a helicopter that the researchers were able to
fully excavate an ichthyosaur. The fossil notably included a skull, shoulder,
and flipper-like appendage. The fossil is at the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County for analysis.
The team that
discovered the recent fossil named the species Cymbospondylus youngorum. The
“big-jawed” Maine reptile notably lived 247 million years ago during the
Triassic period. While describing the species, Schmitz said, “Imagine a
sea-dragon-like animal. Streamlined body, quite long, with limbs, modified to
fins. And a long tail.”
The fossil also
had a 6.5-foot-long skull. The creature apparently lived in the Panthalassic
Ocean, a so-called superocean, off the west coast of North America. Schmitz
explained that it likely ate smaller ichthyosaurs, fish, and possibly squid.
The C.
youngorum lived just 5 million years after the great dying. This was a mass
extinction event that occurred 252 million years ago. It ended the Permian
period. It also killed about 90% of the world’s specie. Schmitz also explained, “This
new fossil impressively documents the fast-tгасk evolution of
gigantism in ichthyosaurs. [In contrast, whales] took a different route to
gigantism, much more prolonged and not nearly as fast.”
Paleontologists
Lene Delsett and Nicholas Pyenson add, “Ichthyosaur history tells us ocean
giants are not guaranteed features of marine ecosystems. Which is a valuable
lesson for all of us in the Anthropocene.”
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