Ichthyosaurus is a Lower Jurassic ichthyosaur genus whose Hettangian Somerset material supports diagnosable species and explicit phylogenetic tests.
claim:taxon:ichthyosaurus:taxonomyIchthyosaurus
A Lower Jurassic ichthyosaur genus represented in this profile by diagnosable Hettangian Somerset specimens rather than an undifferentiated global occurrence set.
Represented range200–190 Ma
Content packagemarine-reptiles-pterosaurs
PBDBtxn:36558
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
The 200–190 Ma genus envelope remains a legacy global composite, while the claim-linked Somerset record is restricted to the Hettangian interval of 201.4–199.5 Ma.
claim:taxon:ichthyosaurus:fossil-rangeThe profile-highlighted Ichthyosaurus specimens are from Hettangian strata of Somerset, England; this regional sample is not a global distribution map.
claim:taxon:ichthyosaurus:biogeographyThe Somerset Ichthyosaurus species are diagnosed from cranial and postcranial character combinations evaluated in a phylogenetic matrix.
claim:taxon:ichthyosaurus:morphologyOne Ichthyosaurus communis specimen preserves probable fish gullet contents, and comparative vertebral anatomy including I. communis supports caudal-fluke propulsion; neither sample establishes one genus-wide diet, habitat or performance envelope.
claim:taxon:ichthyosaurus:ecologyKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- Two new species of Ichthyosaurus from the lowermost Jurassic (Hettangian) of Somerset, EnglandLomax, D.R.; Massare, J.A. · 2017 · DOI 10.1002/spp2.1065
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933
- A new specimen of Ichthyosaurus communis from Dorset, UK, and its bearing on the stratigraphical range of the speciesBennett, S.P.; Barrett, P.M.; Collinson, M.E.; Moore-Fay, S.; Davis, P.G.; Palmer, C.P. · 2012 · DOI 10.1016/j.pgeola.2011.07.001
- Swimming styles in Jurassic ichthyosaursBuchholtz, E.A. · 2001 · DOI 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0061:SSIJI]2.0.CO;2