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MIXOSAURUS
(mix-os-sore-us)
meaning: "Mixed lizard"
Mixosaurus
Named By: Baur in 1887
Time Period: Triassic(Anisian to Ladinian, about 247-242 Mya)[1]
Location: Known from British Isles, USA (Alaska and Nevada), Svalbard (particularly Spitsbergen), Italy, China, Indonesia, Timor
Size: 1 meter long
Diet: Piscivore
Fossil(s): Large number of Specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Reptilia | Ichthyosauria | Mixosauridae |
Also known as: | Ichthyosaurus cornalianus | Sangiorgiosaurus kuhnschnyderi |
About

Mixosaurus is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic (Anisian to Ladinian, about 250-240 Mya) ichthyosaur. Its fossils have been found near Italy-Switzerland border and in South China.

The genus was named in 1887 by George H. Baur. The name means "Mixed Lizard", and was chosen because it appears to have been a transitional form between the eel-shaped ichthyosaurs such as Cymbospondylus and the later dolphin-shaped ichthyosaurs, such as Ichthyosaurus. Baur named Mixosaurus as a new genus because its forefin was sufficiently different from that of Ichthyosaurus.

Mixosaurus includes 3 species. Previously this number was bigger, and Mixosaurus was considered as the most common genus of Triassic ichtyosaurs, whose fossils have been found all over the world, including China, Timor, Indonesia, Italy, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Canada, as well as Alaska and Nevada in the US.

Read more about Mixosaurus at Wikipedia
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