科学家在1.5亿年前发现了“鱼龙”：未消化的鱿鱼仍留在胃中。

科学家在1.5亿年前发现了“鱼龙”：未消化的鱿鱼仍留在胃中。

最近，科学家在英国多塞特郡英吉利海峡沿岸的侏罗纪晚期深海沉积物中发现了一种保存完好的神秘小型海洋爬行动物，距今1.5亿年。她说，这种水生爬行动物被鉴定为“鱼龙”（侏罗纪晚期的一种流线型海洋食肉动物）的一部分，可能具有深潜的能力。

Jacobs说，“这种鱼龙有几个不同之处，足以成为它自己的属和种。”“新的晚侏罗纪鱼龙在英国极为罕见，因为这些生物已经被研究了200年。我们几乎立刻就知道它是新的，但我们花了大约一年的时间与所有其他晚侏罗纪鱼龙进行了彻底的比较，以确保我们的直觉是正确的。我们很兴奋，因为我们找不到匹配的属和种。“

这个标本估计有6英尺长，是2009年由化石收藏家史蒂夫·埃切斯·MBE在海边的断崖中发现的。当时，他发现它包裹在一块石板中，最初埋在300英尺深的石灰岩海底。科学家们发现了乌贼触手钩的证据，以及它用来阻止鱼龙胃中捕食者的黑色染料。根据这一说法，这只鱿鱼可能是它的“最后晚餐”。从那时起，这只标本被收藏在多塞特郡基莫里奇的侏罗纪海洋生物蚀刻收藏博物馆。雅各布斯将其命名为Thalassodracoetchesi，意思是“蚀刻海龙”。英国朴茨茅斯大学古生物学教授、该项研究的共同作者大卫·马蒂尔博士说：“现在新海龙已经正式命名，是时候研究它的生物学了。”这种动物有很多特殊的特征。“

”与其他鱼龙相比，这种动物显然在做不同的事情。一种想法是，它可能是一种深海物种，像抹香鲸。“雅各布斯说。极深的胸部可能会让较大的肺部长时间屏住呼吸，也可能意味着内脏在压力下不会被挤压。它的眼睛也非常大，这意味着它在微弱的光线下可以清晰地看到。这可能意味着它正在没有光线的情况下潜入深海，或者它可能在夜间活动。”

因为它的肋骨很深，这个生物的胸部看起来像一个桶。考虑到它相对较小的鳍状肢，它的游泳方式可能与其他鱼龙不同。

标本上的数百颗小牙齿适合吞食鱿鱼和小鱼。雅各布斯说：“它的牙齿非常独特，非常光滑。”“所有其他鱼龙都有更大的牙齿，牙齿上有明显的条纹，所以我们立即知道这些动物是不同的。”

鱼龙不是恐龙，而是一群海洋爬行动物，在侏罗纪地质时期数量最多，灭绝在白垩纪时期消失。当时它们是地球海洋中的绝对霸主，它们主要以鱼类为食，有时甚至会杀死同伴。

鱼龙平均长约6至13英尺，外形与今天的海豚相似。它们最初是生活在陆地上的类似蜥蜴的生物，后来逐渐进化成化石中发现的海豚或鲨鱼。雅各布斯说，尽管它们有深潜能力，但“它们仍然需要呼吸水面上的空气，而且没有鳞片。”。“对这些动物的生物学知之甚少。我们只能根据现有的化石做出假设，但没有这样的化石。最后，为了适应完整的水生生物，它们不能再在陆地上产卵，因此它们进化成了用尾巴喂养幼崽的形式。人们发现，母亲的身体中有婴儿骨骼，还有骨骼出生的婴儿。“

海龙与广泛分布的鱼龙有着密切的关系，”Nannopterygius“，生存于约2.48亿年前的侏罗纪晚期，分布于欧洲、俄罗斯和北极地区，约9000万年前消失。在北美发现的最大鱼龙头骨有近16英尺长

Jacobs表示，这一新发现的标本可能因年老而死亡或被捕食者袭击，然后沉入海底。”她说：“当时，海底非常柔软，即使有厚厚的液体，也能潜入泥中，半埋在地下。”“尾巴没有沉入泥中，所以它暴露在腐烂和食腐动物面前，食腐动物会来吃尾巴。“因为它包裹在石灰石中，所以可以得到特殊的保护，包括一些保存下来的内脏和脊椎骨化韧带。”

Mattier说：“新的鱼龙物种仍在被发现，这真是太好了，这表明这些不可思议的动物是多么的多样化。”今年5月，一种在2.46亿年前灭绝的海洋爬行动物被确认为新物种，科学家将这只怀孕的鱼龙命名为“玛蒂娜”，并在内华达州的一个小山脉中发现了它的化石残骸。去年，一名遛狗者在英国萨默塞特郡的海滩上意外发现了6500万年前的骨骼化石。据信，这是一个保存完好的鱼龙化石，这是由于他的狗的尖尖鼻子

Jon Gopsill和他的两个宠物在萨默塞特郡斯托尔福德海岸散步时，突然闻到了一块骨头，这是5.5英尺长的化石的一部分，这是在最近的风暴中暴露出来的

自然历史博物馆地球科学部馆长Mike Day博士，确认Scientists discovered "ichthyosaurs" 150 million years ago: undigested squid remained in the stomach.

Recently, scientists found a well-preserved mysterious small marine reptile 150 million years ago in a late Jurassic deep-sea sediment along the English Channel in Dorset, England

Jacobs, a paleontologist, is a doctoral candidate in earth science at Baylor University and a co-author of a research paper published in the journal PLOSONE. She said that this aquatic reptile was identified as a part of the "ichthyosaur" (a streamlined marine carnivore in the late Jurassic) and may have the ability to dive deep

Jacobs said, "This ichthyosaur has several differences that make it unique enough to become its own genus and species." "The new Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs are extremely rare in the UK, because these creatures have been studied for 200 years. We almost immediately knew that it was new, but it took us about a year to make a thorough comparison with all other Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs to make sure our intuition was correct. We were very excited that we could not find a matching genus and species."

This specimen is estimated to be 6 feet long, It was discovered by Steve Etches MBE, a fossil collector, in the broken cliff at the seaside in 2009. At that time, he found it wrapped in a slate, which was originally buried in the limestone seabed 300 feet deep

Scientists found evidence of the tentacle hook of the squid and the black dye it used to stop predators in the stomach of the ichthyosaur. According to this, this squid may be its "last supper"

Since then, this specimen has been collected in the Jurassic Marine Life Etching Collection Museum in Kimurich, Dorset. Jacobs named it Thalassodracoetchesi, which means "etching the sea dragon"

"Now that the new sea dragon has been officially named, it is time to study its biology," said Dr. David Mattier, professor of paleontology and co-author of the study at the University of Portsmouth, UK. "This animal has many special features."

"Compared with other ichthyosaurs, this animal is obviously doing different things. One idea is that it may be a deep-sea species like sperm whales." Jacobs said. The extremely deep chest may allow the larger lungs to hold their breath for a long time, or it may mean that the internal organs are not crushed under pressure

Its eyes are also incredibly large, which means that it can see clearly in weak light. This may mean that it is diving into the depth without light, or it may be active at night. "

Because of its deep ribs, this creature's chest looks like a barrel. Considering its relatively small flippers, its swimming style may be different from other ichthyosaurs

The hundreds of small teeth on the specimen are suitable for swallowing squid and small fish. Jacobs said: "Its teeth are very unique and very smooth." "All other ichthyosaurs have larger teeth, and there are obvious stripes on the teeth, so we immediately know that these animals are different."

ichthyosaurs are not dinosaurs, but a group of marine reptiles, with the largest number in the Jurassic geological period, Extinction disappeared during the Cretaceous period. They were the absolute hegemons in the earth's oceans at that time, and they mainly prey on fish, sometimes even kill their companions

The ichthyosaur is about 6 to 13 feet long on average, and its appearance is similar to that of today's dolphins. They were originally lizard-like creatures living on land, and gradually evolved into dolphins or sharks found in fossils

Their limbs have evolved into flippers, most of which are long and wide. Although they have deep diving ability, "they still need to breathe air on the water, and there are no scales," Jacobs said. "Little is known about the biology of these animals. We can only make assumptions based on the existing fossils, but there are no such fossils. Finally, in order to adapt to the complete aquatic life, they can no longer lay eggs on the land, so they have evolved into the form of feeding their young with tails. It has been found that there are baby bones in the mother's body, as well as the bones of the born baby."

The sea dragon is closely related to a widely distributed ichthyosaur, "Nannopterygius", which lived in the late Jurassic about 248 million years ago, distributed in Europe, Russia and the Arctic region, and disappeared about 90 million years ago. The largest ichthyosaur skull found in North America is nearly 16 feet long

Jacobs said that this newly discovered specimen may die of old age or be attacked by predators, and then sink to the seabed

She said: "At that time, the sea floor was incredibly soft, even with thick liquid, which made it possible to dive head-down into the mud, and half buried in the ground." "The tail did not sink into the mud, so it was exposed to rotting and scavengers, and scavengers would come to eat the tail." Because it was wrapped in limestone, it could get special preservation, including some preserved viscera and spinal ossified ligaments. "

Mattier said: "It's great that new species of ichthyosaurs are still being discovered, which shows how diverse these incredible animals are."

In May this year, a marine reptile that was extinct 246 million years ago was identified as a new species, and its unborn offspring were still in the womb

Scientists named the pregnant ichthyosaur "Martina", and its fossil remains were found in a small mountain range in Nevada

Last year, a dog walker accidentally found a bone fossil 65 million years ago on the beach of Somerset, England. It is believed that this is a well-preserved ichthyosaur fossil, which is due to the sharp nose of his dogs

Jon Gopsill and his two pets were walking along the coast of Stolford, Somerset, when suddenly they smelled a bone, which was part of a 5.5 foot long fossil, which was exposed in the recent storm

Dr. Mike Day, curator of the Earth Science Department of the Natural History Museum, confirmed at that time that the skeleton might belong to a ichthyosaur