Brachypterygius
Brachypterygius was a fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the Late Jurassic seas. It looked a bit like a dolphin but was a reptile, not a fish or a dinosaur. Its short, wide front flippers helped it steer through the water.1
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Fun facts
Brachypterygius had a short, wide front flipper with up to six fingers, and some fingers had as many as 16 bones.1
Its skull was between 0.5 and 1.2 metres long, about the size of a big dog's head.1
The first fossil of Brachypterygius was just a single right front flipper, found in England.1
Brachypterygius lived during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages, about 154 to 143 million years ago.3
It is closely related to other ichthyosaurs like Platypterygius and Caypullisaurus.1
Scientists once thought Brachypterygius was the same as another ichthyosaur called Grendelius, but now many think they are different.1
Most asked questions about Brachypterygius
?How big was Brachypterygius?
Brachypterygius was a medium sized ichthyosaur, with a body length up to 4 metres (13 ft) and a skull length of 0.5 to 1.2 metres (1.6 to 3.9 ft).1
?Was Brachypterygius a dinosaur?
No, Brachypterygius was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea. It was not a dinosaur, even though it lived at the same time as dinosaurs.1
?What did Brachypterygius eat?
Scientists think Brachypterygius hunted in sunlit waters for slower prey like fish that swam in shoals. Its teeth were larger and more robust than those of some other ichthyosaurs.2
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Brachypterygius
- Named by
- Huene 19223
- Group
- Ichthyosaurs
- Family / clade
- Ophthalmosauridae3
- Classification
- Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha3
- Age of the rocks
- 155 to 143 million years (Kimmeridgian / Tithonian)3
- Rock formations
- Kimmeridge Clay, Agardhfjellet3
- Countries
- United Kingdom, Russia, Norway3
- Fossil records
- 6 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Also known as
- Ochevia, Otschevia (older names now counted as the same animal)3
- Discovery
- The first fossil, a right front flipper, was described as Ichthyosaurus extremus by Boulenger in 1904. In 1922, Friedrich von Huene gave it the new name Brachypterygius because of its short, wide flipper.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether the species Grendelius mordax is the same as Brachypterygius extremus or a separate animal.1
Where the facts come from
- Brachypterygius (en.wikipedia.org)
- Brachypterygius (prehistoric-wildlife.com)
- Brachypterygius in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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