Ichthyosaurs 101 | National Geographic

while dinosaurs roamed the earth and
pterosaurs ruled the sky sea monsters
called Ixia Soares dominated the world’s
oceans
akia sores were ancient reptilian
predators they first appeared about 251
million years ago during the Triassic
period 20 million years before dinosaurs
came about true to their name which
means fish lizards in Greek the earliest
Exia sores looked much like lizards with
fins over the course of their 100
million year existence their bodies
transformed and became more akin to fish
in shape they had long narrow skulls and
jaws that were lined with sharp teeth
these teeth were used to catch prey like
fish and squid their eyes were the
largest ever recorded of any animal
which helped them see through the dark
waters of the deep ocean in fact one
species had eyes that were over ten
inches wide
their bodies ranged in size some barely
reached the length of two feet while the
longest specimen was about 85 feet long
they had paddle-like fins and a vertical
tail which helped ichthyosaurs despite
their great size zipped through water at
speeds of over 22 miles per hour
altogether these qualities put Ixia
sores at the top of the marine food
chain by the late cretaceous period
about 25 million years before an
asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs Ixia
source became extinct some scientists
believe it may have been due to severe
climate change but the exact reason why
these early sea monsters died out is
still a mystery
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