- Chaohusaurus
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Chaohusaurus
Temporal range: Early Triassic
Chaohusaurus geishanensis Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Ichthyosauria Family: Grippidae Genus: Chaohusaurus
Young & Dong, 1972Species - C. geishanensis
Chaohusaurus with a human to scale.
Chaohusaurus geishanensis ('geisha lizard of Chaohu') was an ichthyosaur, an extinct marine reptile, from the Early Triassic of Chaohu, China. It has also been called Anhuisaurus and Chensaurus. It was described by Young and Dong in 1972. It was closer in form to Cymbospondylus and Mixosaurus than more advanced genera like Ichthyosaurus: it did not have the dolphin-like form of later ichthyosaurs; it had a more lizard-like appearance. It did have flippers, rather than webbed feet, but the neck is atypically long and there is no dorsal fin. The tail fin is wide-based and short. It is one of the smallest ichthyosaurs, being from 70 to 180 cm long. Its weight is estimated at 10 kg.
References
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