Utatsusaurus

Taxobox
name = "Utatsusaurus"
fossil_range = Early Triassic

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image_width =250px
image_caption = life restoration of "Utatsusaurus hataii"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Ichthyopterygia
familia = Utatsusauridae
familia_authority = McGowan & Motani, 2003
genus = "Utatsusaurus"
binomial = "Utatsusaurus hataii"
binomial_authority = Shikama, Kamei & Murata, 1978

"Utatsusaurus" is the earliest-known form of an ichthyopterygian (the group of marine reptiles that includes the ichthyosaurs), which lived in the early Triassic period (c. 245-250 millions years ago ). Unlike the more advanced icthyosaurs, "Utatsusaurus" has no dorsal fin and has a broad skull that tapers slowly toward the snout., "Utatsusaurus" reached a length of 3 meters (10 feet).

Ryosuke Motani from the University of California, Berkeley and Nachio Minoura from Hokkaido University re-examined the fossils of "Utatsusaurus" in 1998 using computer imagery to reverse the distortion of the original skeleton. They found that "Utatsusaurus" was closely related to the lizard-like diaspid reptiles such as "Petrolacosaurus", making ichthyopterygians a distant relative to lizards, snakes and crocodiles.

References

*ite book|last=Dixon|first=Dougal|title=The Complete Book of Dinosaurs|publisher=Hermes House|year=2006.