Macroevolutionary patterns in pelagic tetrapods

A comprehensive study by an international team of researchers found that the evolutionary trajectories of Triassic–Jurassic ichthyosaurs and eosauropterygians – two groups of Mesozoic pelagic predators – differed markedly. Furthermore, the study provides evidence that the turnover of Mesozoic marine reptiles at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary was more gradual than previously believed, rather than catastrophic. However, one group of ichthyosaurs—the colossal shastasaurids—appears to have been severely affected by the Triassic–Jurassic extinctions.