A new species of mixosaur from China

Mixosaurs were a group of ichthyosaurs from the Middle Triassic. They were characterized by a streamlined body and teeth used for crushing shells of marine invertebrates. Mixosaurs were abundant in the shallow waters of the Tethys and are known from hundreds of specimens, but their species diversity is poorly known. A new paper describes a new species of mixosaur from Yunnan Province in southwestern China – Mixosaurus luxiensis. The discovery allows us to better understand the anatomical and ecological diversity of mixosaurs from China and their relationships with species from Europe.

Figure: photo author: Ye-wei Fang, reconstruction author: Nikolay Zverkov.