Dino card No. 1512 of 2,027

Qianichthyosaurus

Say it: chee-AN-ick-thee-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Qian ichthyosaur, named after the Qian region of China”1

Ate: MeatIchthyosaursMiddle Triassic to Late TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Qianichthyosaurus was a small, fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the seas of ancient China. It looked a bit like a dolphin, with a long snout, big eyes, and flippers for paddling. Even though it was not a dinosaur, it ruled the ocean during the Triassic Period.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

239 to 227 million years ago5

Middle Triassic to Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Guizhou Province, southeastern China1

Food

Meat1 2

Length

1.3 to 2 m1

Q. xingyiensis was about 1.3 m long, Q. zhoui was 1.5 to 2 m long

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 11 bananas end to end

How big was Qianichthyosaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Qianichthyosaurus had hind flippers that were almost as long as its front flippers, which helped it steer and swim quickly.1

Complete fossils of Qianichthyosaurus are common in the Xiaowa Formation, including both babies and pregnant females.1

The larger ichthyosaurs Guizhouichthyosaurus and Guanlingsaurus lived at the same time but are rarer than Qianichthyosaurus.1

Qianichthyosaurus is closely related to Toretocnemus, an ichthyosaur found in California, USA.1

The two species of Qianichthyosaurus lived at different times: Q. xingyiensis is older (Ladinian) and Q. zhoui is younger (Carnian).3

Qianichthyosaurus had a very short snout compared to many other ichthyosaurs, and its eyes were huge and round.2

AI-made picture of Qianichthyosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Qianichthyosaurus 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 Qianichthyosaurus

?How big was Qianichthyosaurus?

Qianichthyosaurus was a small ichthyosaur. Q. zhoui measured 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft) long, while Q. xingyiensis was smaller at 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long.1

?What did Qianichthyosaurus eat?

It had small teeth, so it probably ate small fish and squid. Its relatives, like Shastasaurus, were suction feeders that ate soft prey.1 4

?Is Qianichthyosaurus a dinosaur?

No, it is not a dinosaur. It was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the ocean during the Triassic Period.1

?When did Qianichthyosaurus live?

It lived during the Middle to Late Triassic Period, about 237 to 227 million years ago.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Qianichthyosaurus was a dinosaur because it lived in the water and had flippers.

Truth: Qianichthyosaurus was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that is not a dinosaur. Ichthyosaurs are a different group of reptiles that lived in the ocean.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Qianichthyosaurus
Named by: Li 19995
Group: Ichthyosaurs
Family / clade: Toretocnemidae5
Classification: Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha5
Age of the rocks: 239 to 227 million years (Ladinian / Carnian)5
Rock formations: Falang, Xiaowa5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 7 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The first species, Qianichthyosaurus zhoui, was named by Chinese paleontologist Chun Li in 1999. A second species, Q. xingyiensis, was named in 2013 by Pengfei Yang and colleagues from older rocks in the Falang Formation.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Qianichthyosaurus is related to other ichthyosaurs, especially Toretocnemus from North America.1

Where the facts come from

Qianichthyosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A New Species of Qianichthyosaurus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from Xingyi Fauna (Ladinian, Middle Triassic) of Guizhou (xbna.pku.edu.cn)
Short-Snouted Toothless Ichthyosaur from China Suggests Late Triassic Diversification of Suction Feeding Ichthyosaurs | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
Qianichthyosaurus 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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