Cymbospondylus

Doug Henderson Artwork

**Cymbospondylus** was a large but early variety of Ichthyosaur that lived during the Middle to Late Triassic Period. This ichthyosaur would have been one of the larger ichthyosaurs of the Triassic period and possibly one of the largest known ichthyosaurs. It shares a similar body shape to Thalattoarchon in that it had no dorsal fin and its tail was long and sort of like a thresher shark's but reversed, but it still had an elongated snout like other ichthyisaurs. This body shape indicates that is spent a good portion of its life in shallow water or around the bottom of whatever body of water is was swimming in.

Its tail allowed it to cruise along at a reasonable pace unlike the ichthyosaurs in the future. This tail however would have allowed it to use its tail to accelerate into massive bursts of speed which would perfect for an ambush hunter since it could would be swimming along with fish surrounding it then all of a sudden it would use its tail to accelerate and grab a large fish without giving the fish any time to notice or escape. This ichthyosaur would have also been a predator of larger prey like smaller sea reptiles or possibly even dinosaurs that had fallen into the sea.

## Description

It grew to 33 ft (10 meters) long. The 1-meter-long head of it had rows of teeth that made it capable of catching Ammonites.

## Discovery

Fossils have been found in both Germany and Nevada, and the first species was named by Joseph Leidy in 1868. It was not until the early 1900s that the first complete skeletons were discovered. Fossil vertebrae from *Cymbospondylus* were allegedly used as plates by Nevada's silver miners; it is now the state's official fossil.

## Paleobiology

Despite its size, *Cymbospondylus* was not much of a threat to other marine reptiles, such as *Nothosaurus*. Its large jaws contained rows of teeth which were so small that they could not have grasped and held on to large animals, let alone kill them. Instead, the teeth were better designed for catching and holding on to small and medium-sized fish, ammonites and belemnites. The long tail would have been excellent for swimming, and allowed *Cymbospondylus* to move at fast speeds and efficiently hunt down shoals of swimming fish.

Adult *Cymbospondylus* probably spent much of their time hunting in deep offshore water, only venturing into shallower water to breed or to catch seasonally available prey. Like other ichthyosaurs, *Cymbospondylus* probably gave birth to live young. These, on reaching adult size, probably had few, if any, predators that could harm them.

Previously, it was classified as a shastasaurid, however, more recent work finds it to be more basal (Motani, 1999).

The eel-like tail of *Cymbospondylus* made up almost half the total body length, and it is possible that the tail was used as a primary swimming mechanism. Like present day sea snakes, *Cymbospondylus* probably swam by wriggling its body from side to side. The paddle-like limbs *Cymbospondylus* had were serving use primarily as underwater stabilizers and slowing down the ichthyosaur's swimming speed.

*Cymbospondylus* fossils have been found in both Germany and Nevada, and the first species was named by Joseph Leidy in 1868. It was not until the early 1900s that the first complete skeletons were discovered. Fossil vertebrae from *Cymbospondylus* were allegedly used as plates by Nevada's silver miners; it is now the state's official fossil.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

*Cymbospondylus* is number 122 of the Carnivore Threes that can be created in *Jurassic Park III: Park Builder*.

## Links

https://web.archive.org/web/20040606195347fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinolab/dino\_academy/art\_gallery\_class\_gallery.jsp?CLASSID=5&imgpg=8&page=4

## References

* Haines, Tim and Paul Chambers. 2006: The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. Pg. 65. Richmond Hill, Firefly Books Ltd.
* Motani, R. 1999: Phylogeny of the Ichthyopterygia. Journal Of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19 (3): 473 - 496