Ichthyotitan

Ichthyotitan was a genus of gigantic shastasaurid ichthyosaur with two specimens from the uppermost Triassic Westbury Formation in Somerset, England and Blue Anchor, which is approximately 10 km west along the coast from Lilstock. The only species in this genus is I. severnensis.

 Discovery and naming 

 Lilstock specimen 
BRSMG Cg2488, also called the "Lilstock specimen", was discovered in May 2016 by Paul de la Salle while discovering pieces of a giant bone in Somerset, and the specimen was around 205 million years ago, dating from the late Triassic period.

 Holotype specimen 
The holotype was discovered in sediments of Blue Anchor, Somerset by 11-year-old girl Ruby Reynolds, while looking for fossils with her father, Justin Reynolds. Justin contacted Dean Lomax, who himself reached out to Paul de la Salle. The surangular came together from several chunks that, Lomax remembers, ''fit together perfectly like an ancient prehistoric jigsaw puzzle''. Ruby's discovery was eventually named as Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning “giant fish lizard from the Severn".

 Description 

 Size estimates 
thumb
Ichthyotitan was a big ichthyosaur, and the researchers estimated Lilstock specimen by comparing the surangular to the same bone in Shastasaurus, which suggested that it could have been larger than the blue whale, at a whopping 26 metres (85 ft) long. Researchers pointed out that, while the differences make these estimates speculative, they were conventional.

The Aust specimens of this genus have been estimated to be even larger at 30 to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) long.

 The jawbone 
A large jawbone discovered on a beach in Somerset along the English coast belonged to the largest known ichthyosaur, Ichthyotitan.

 Paleoecology 
Ichthyotitan was likely a predator, hunting smaller prey like an orca.

 Possible remains 
Other possible remains of giant ichthyosaurs that are a similar age to Ichthyotitan were found in Germany and France. The Cuers specimen was originally described as shastasaurid-like, with flattened centra similar to Shonisaurus and Himalayasaurus.

 Gallery 

 References 

 Other websites 

Category:Ichthyosaurs
Category:England