Ichthyosaurus & Plesiosaurus – early in a double manner

digital painting 2025

see ichthyosaurs hunting  /  Pliosaurus model  /  Temnodontosaurus model

These two marine reptiles are early representatives. They lived during the Early Jurassic, which is after one of the most severe turnovers in the history of life, when the broad Triassic spectrum of reptiles was narrowed to a few morphologies that roamed the Jurassic and Cretaceous seas. This is a fairly representative list of which pelagic tetrapod types survived the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction. Likewise, both illustrated forms represent the beginnings of their specific field in research history. Above is Ichthyosaurus, the first ichthyosaur known to science, described in 1818 (or formally 1821). Below is Plesiosaurus – surprise: the first plesiosaur. While the latter are believed to be somehow related to turtles, the ichthyosaur origins are even more puzzling. Some of the latest analyses suggest an aquatic common ancestor for both lineages. Once again, the proof is still pending, and maybe not due to missing fossils, but the weird menagerie of Triassic reptiles.