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Grippia

Say it: GRIP-ee-uh

Name means: “Grippia means 'little griffin' or 'gripping one'.”1

Ate: MeatIchthyosaursEarly Triassic to Middle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Grippia was a small, dolphin-like marine reptile that lived in the Early Triassic seas. It swam by wiggling its tail like an eel and was one of the earliest ichthyosaurs.1

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

251 to 247 million years ago2

Early Triassic to Middle Triassic

Fossils found in

Norway (Svalbard), Canada (British Columbia), and also Greenland, China, and Japan.1 2

Food

Meat1

Length

1 to 1.5 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to end

How big was Grippia compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Grippia is one of the smallest ichthyosaurs, only about 1 to 1.5 metres long.1

The first complete skull of Grippia was found in 1929 but was destroyed during a bombing raid in World War II.1

Grippia swam by moving its tail side to side, just like a modern eel.1

It lived about 250 to 235 million years ago, during the Early to Middle Triassic.1

Grippia is considered the most basal (early) ichthyosaur, meaning it had a more primitive body than later species.1

No complete skeleton of Grippia has ever been found, only partial skulls and bones.1

AI-made picture of Grippia — An AI-made picture of how Grippia might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Grippia

?What did Grippia eat?

Scientists are not sure. Its teeth suggest it may have eaten both plants and animals (omnivore), or maybe molluscs and small fish. No one will know for certain until a full skull is found.1

?Where did Grippia live?

Grippia lived in shallow coastal seas during the Early Triassic. Its fossils have been found in Greenland, China, Japan, Norway, and Canada.1

?How did Grippia swim?

Grippia swam by moving its tail side to side, just like a modern eel.1

?Is Grippia a dinosaur?

No, Grippia is not a dinosaur. It is an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea.1 2

Ask Rex about Grippia

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Grippia
Named by: Wiman 19292
Group: Ichthyosaurs
Family / clade: Grippiidae2
Classification: Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha2
Age of the rocks: 251 to 247 million years ()2
Rock formations: Vikinghøgda, Sulphur Mountain, Sticky Keep2
Countries: Norway, Canada2
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Grippia was named by Swedish paleontologist Carl Wiman in 1929 based on fossils from Svalbard, Norway.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure what Grippia ate. Its teeth suggest it might have eaten both plants and animals, but without a full skull, its diet remains a mystery.1

Where the facts come from

Grippia (en.wikipedia.org)
Grippia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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