Named By: | Li in 1999 |
Time Period: | Triassic, 232.0-221.5 Ma[1] |
Location: | China, Guizhou Province - Wayao Formation |
Size: | Total body length estimated at up to 150 centimetres, skull 24 centimetres long |
Diet: | Piscivore |
Fossil(s): | 2 specimens |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Ichthyopterygia | Ichthyosaura | Toretocnemidae | |
Qianichthyosaurus is an extinct genus of Ichthyosaur from the late Triassic (Carnian) period. Its fossils have been found in southeastern China in the Falang formation near Huangtutang in the province of Guizhou. It has similar characteristics with the ichthyosaur Toretocnemus, that comes from the United States, that together they form the family of the Toretocnemidae. This species is much smaller than the usual ichthyosaur, it was two meters in corporal longitude, with a shorter nose, large ocular orbits, and a much larger neural spine from the tail to the torso.
The type species is Qianichthyosaurus zhoui. The holotype is specimen IVPP V11839.