A dash of new ichthyosaurs

There have been a couple of new ichthyosaurs named in the past month. Both are from the Lower Triassic and so tell us new things about the early evolution of the group.

Gulosaurus helmi is a new grippiid from Canada and Chaohusaurus zhangjiawanensis is a basal ichthyosaurian from China.

References

CHEN, X., SANDER, P. M., CHENG, L. and WANG, X. 2013. A new Triassic primitive ichthyosaur from Yuanan, South China. Acta Geologica Sinica, 87, 672–677.

CUTHBERTSON, R. S., RUSSELL, A. P. and ANDERSON, J. S. 2013. Cranial morphology and relationships of a new grippidian (Ichthyopterygia) from the Vega-Phroso Siltstone Member (Lower Triassic) of British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 33, 831–847.