Fossil discovery of THIS 250-million-year-old marine reptile could rewrite history

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A team of Swedish and Norwegian palaeontologists have unveiled one of the oldest fossils of Ichthyosaurs — an extinct marine reptile that thrived during the dinosaur age. The fossils were discovered on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic and provide a deep insight into the species, with the potential to rewrite history.

The scientists found 11 vertebrae and 15 bone fragments on the frigid-cold island, along a river channel. Afterwards, they conducted geochemical, computerised micro-tomographic and bone microstructural analyses and posited that the fish-like reptiles had evolved earlier than the world's first mass extinction event which took place nearly 252 million years ago.

"The implications of this discovery are manifold, but most importantly indicate that the long-anticipated transitional ichthyosaur ancestor must have appeared much earlier than previously suspected," said Benjamin Kear, lead author of the study published in the journal Current Biology.

The researchers, however, added the caveat that more fossils will be needed to confirm if the ichthyopterigians were swimming in the seas before the galactical doom.

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The earlier theory suggested that land-based reptiles with walking legs ventured into the open sea after the mass extinction event. Over time, the early amphibious reptiles became more efficient at swimming and modified their body parts such as limbs to flippers to become permanent sea-dwellers.

The discovery of the fossils, however, disputes the theory. Scientists saythe magnificent creatures predated the extinction event by more than 20 million years.

According to studies, some of the Ichthyosaurs reached up to around 70 feet in length, rivalling some of Earth's largest whales. However, their genesis always remained a mystery before the recent discovery.

While dinosaurs dominated the land, Ichthyosaurs stood on top of the food chain in the oceans. The domination in the marine habitat continued for over 160 million years.

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(With inputs from agencies)

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