[CHINADAILY]Marine reptile fossil found in China a new species

Researchers from China found a mysterious marine reptile fossil in 2017 and have now determined that it belongs to a new species. They named it Baisesaurus robustus.

The creature, measuring 3 meters long, was found in Longlin county of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region by a team from the Guizhou Geological Survey. It includes anterior dorsal vertebrae, ribs, peritoneal ribs and a limb bone and was classified as an ichthyosauromorph.

Such fossils have typical features, including vertebral bodies that are concave on two sides. Initial identification was difficult because the new fossil was missing a skull and most of its limb bones.

"Although the specimen is not completely preserved, it has some unique characteristics of an ichthyosauromorph, which is different from other marine reptiles such as finned fish," said Han Fenglu, a professor at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and a member of the research team.

Members of the survey group in Guizhou province, together with other from Canada's University of Alberta, joined the research. Their findings were published recently online in PeerJ journal.

Ichthyosauromorphs are marine reptiles that flourished in the Triassic and Jurassic periods. They first appeared about 250 million years ago and became extinct 90 million years ago, about the same as dinosaurs.

The creatures discovered so far first appeared in the Early Triassic, and have been reported in Japan, Canada and northern Europe, as well as in China's Hubei and Anhui provinces and other places. Most are small, measuring no more than 1.5 meters long, but the Guangxi fossil is much larger.

Baisesaurus robustus is the first such fossil to be found in Guangxi.

"Compared with other early ichthyosauromorphs, this one from Guangxi had longer and stronger forelimb bones, suggesting that it may have had stronger swimming ability, perhaps for longer distances," Han said.

"As the largest Early Triassic ichthyosauromorph found in China, it may have played a role as an advanced predator in the ocean at that time."

Researchers take spicemens in Longlin county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

   By Liu Kun in Wuhan