Scientist solves monster problem
A DILEMMA of dinosaur proportions has been solved by a University of Manchester scientist.
Ichthyosaurs were dolphin-like reptiles and swam in our seas for 150 million years until they became extinct around 90 million years ago.
But for 200 years, paleontologists have been baffled by the difference – or lack of it – between what were believed to be two distinct species – Ichthyosaurus intermedius and Ichthyosaurus communis. Now Manchester’s Dean Lomax and New York’s Professor Judy Massare have concluded there isn’t one and that they are all the same species – Ichthyosaurus intermedius.
Since the first skeletons were found in England in the early 1800s, paleontologists have classified Ichthyosaurs into several species.
But Ichthyosaurus intermedius and Ichthyosaurus communis have always ‘caused a big headache,’ said Dean Lomax.
Mr Lomax and Professor Massare of Brockport College, New York undertook the biggest ever review of all previous ichthyosaur research and concluded the two species are the same.
Dr Chris McGowan first suggested the species were the same in the 1970s but could not find conclusive evidence. Scientists continued to argue the species were separate.
Ichthyosaurs ranged from one to 16 metres long, though most were two to four metres. They swam in large numbers around what is now Britain.