The discovery of the battered remains of a 180-million-year-old dolphin-like sea creature has changed what scientists previously thought about the prehistoric predator.
Unearthed at the Mistelgau clay pit in northern Germany, the incredibly well-preserved fossils of this ichthyosaur, belonging to the genus Temnodontosaurus, have helped scientists refine the timeframe during which these marine reptiles inhabited the waters.
"Our Temnodontosaurus fossil is one of the youngest finds of this ichthyosaur genus to date," SNSB paleontologist Dr. Ulrike Albert, author of the study, said in a press release. "The discovery from Mistelgau now shows that these large marine reptiles survived longer in the Southwest German Basin than previously documented."
It also seems that this specific ichthyosaur survived longer than it should have. Changes to the skeleton suggest that it suffered considerable battle wounds that would've made hunting much more difficult. According to the press release, the presumed injuries would've affected the animal's jaw joints.
Stefan Eggmaier, preparator at the Urwelt-Museum and an author of the study, said, "The fact that it nevertheless survived is evidenced, among other things, by its heavily worn teeth and gastroliths, which we were able to identify in the abdominal region."
Gastroliths are rocks ingested by animals to help digest food. They are commonly found in the remains of herbivorous dinosaurs but are extremely rare in ichthyosaurs, suggesting this particular creature may have needed to adjust its feeding habits.
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"The injuries likely significantly limited the animal's ability to catch prey," Eggmaier added.
While the ichthyosaur strikingly resembles the dolphins that roam our oceans today, there is absolutely no relation between the two. Modern-day dolphins are mammals, and the Mesozoic ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles, or "fish lizards."
The two creatures are a prime example of convergent evolution, in which species from different lineages evolve in similar ways due to comparable environmental stressors.
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