Discovery of rare new #fossil sheds light on #NewZealand's extinct dolphin-like reptiles https://phys.org/news/2025-01-discovery-rare-fossil-zealand-extinct.html
A platypterygiid #ichthyosaur from the #Cenomanian of central New Zealand https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2408391
"This #discovery is particularly exciting because the specimen is about 98 million years old. This is about four million years before the final #extinction of #ichthyosaurs, which makes it one of the youngest semi-complete ichthyosaur skeletons known."
Discovery of rare new fossil sheds light on New Zealand's extinct dolphin-like reptiles
Ichthyosaurs were reptiles that swam in the seas during the time of the dinosaurs. They evolved separately around 250 million years ago, possibly from a crocodile-like ancestor, to resemble fish and modern dolphins.





