A team of scientists from China have identified the first ever amphibious ichthyosaur, an ancient marine reptile that thrived on both land and in water.
The newly identified specimen fills an evolutionary gap, offering researchers a link between the water-loving ichthyosaur and its land-based ancestors.
At some point, before their proliferation during the Jurassic period around 200 million years ago, ichthyosaurs switched from land to sea, according to UPI.com. Until now, scientists didn't have evidence of a transitionary species.
"But now we have this fossil showing the transition," lead study author Ryosuke Motani, a professor in the University of California Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said in a recent press release. "There's nothing that prevents it from coming onto land."
The 248 million year old fossil was discovered by Montani and his colleagues in China's Anhu Province. It is different from its aquatic successors thanks to its larger, more flexible flippers, similar to the kind that allow seals to move around on sandy beaches and rocks.
Later on, ichthyosaurs also had long beak-like snouts, whereas the newly discovered amphibious specimen has a short nose, similar to other terrestrial reptiles.
"By all means, this specimen is indeed very distinct from any ichthyosaur I have seen," said Valentin Fischer, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences who didn't assist in the research, to National Geographic.
In addition to UC Davis, the research team included scientists from Peking University, Anhui Geological Museum, Chinese Academy of Science, University of Milan and The Field Museum in Chicago.
The discovery was outlined in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
The study received funding from the National Geographic Society, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, and the Department of Land and Resource of Anhui Province.
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