Guanlingsaurus
Guanlingsaurus was a giant marine reptile that lived in the Late Triassic, about 235 to 227 million years ago. It had a very short, toothless snout and sucked in fish and squid like a vacuum cleaner. It could grow as long as a school bus!12
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Fun facts
Guanlingsaurus had a very short, toothless snout, which is very different from most other ichthyosaurs that had long jaws full of teeth.1
Its skull was tiny compared to its body, making up only about 8 to 9 percent of its total length.1
It had an extremely high number of vertebrae: 86 in the neck and trunk and more than 110 in the tail.2
Guanlingsaurus lived during the Carnian age of the Late Triassic, about 235 to 227 million years ago.3
A complete juvenile skeleton was found in 2013, which helped scientists confirm that Guanlingsaurus was a distinct genus from Shastasaurus.1
Most asked questions about Guanlingsaurus
?Was Guanlingsaurus a dinosaur?
No. Guanlingsaurus was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea, not a dinosaur.1
?How did Guanlingsaurus feed?
It likely sucked in fish and squid like a vacuum cleaner, but some scientists think its hyoid bones were too weak for strong suction feeding.45
?Where was Guanlingsaurus found?
In Guanling County, Guizhou Province, China, in rocks from the Late Triassic.1
?How long was the juvenile Guanlingsaurus?
About 3.74 metres (12.3 feet) long.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Many people think Guanlingsaurus had teeth like other ichthyosaurs.
Truth: Guanlingsaurus was completely toothless, even as a juvenile, and had no dental groove in its jaws.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Guanlingsaurus
- Named by
- Yin et al. 20006
- Group
- Ichthyosaurs
- Family / clade
- Shastasauridae6
- Classification
- Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha6
- Age of the rocks
- 237 to 227 million years (Carnian)6
- Rock formations
- Xiaowa, Wayao6
- Countries
- China6
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database6
- Discovery
- Guanlingsaurus was first named in 2000 by Yin and colleagues based on an incomplete adult skeleton from Guanling County, China. More complete skeletons, including a juvenile, were described in 2011 and 2013.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Guanlingsaurus should be its own genus or a species of Shastasaurus. It was moved to Shastasaurus in 2011 but later reinstated as a separate genus in 2013.1
Where the facts come from
- Guanlingsaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Short-snouted toothless ichthyosaur from China suggests Late Triassic diversification of suction feeding ichthyosaurs - PubMed (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- pone.0019480 1..10 (journals.plos.org)
- Guanlingsaurus (Ichthyosauria) juvenile from Triassic of China (dml.reptilis.net)
- Guanlingsaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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