Why do ichthyosaurs look like dolphins?

Gradually sharks, ichthyosaurs, and dolphins came to look alike because natural selection favored one particular shape over all others for rapid movement through the seas. Figure legend: Convergent Evolution. Although very different species, the dolphin and the icthyasaur look alike.

What type of marine dinosaur looked similar to a dolphin?

Despite their distance from the oceanic mammals in both time and evolutionary history, though, ichthyosaurs look enough like dolphins for the two to be practically inseparable in textbooks.

Are ichthyosaurs extinct?

Unlike other marine reptile groups, ichthyosaurs disappeared tens of millions of years before the end-Cretaceous extinction (65 million years ago) that marked the end for dinosaurs and the beginning of the age of mammals.

What dinosaur looks like fish?

Due to its massive size and the fact that its virtually unchanged in the fossil record for 23 million years, DeSouza says the arapaima has become known as the “dinosaur fish.” And while the species never actually lived during the time of the dinosaurs, its primeval appearance certainly brings the popular image of …

Is ichthyosaur a dolphin?

Although they superficially have a similar shape and they exploit similar environmental niches, we know that ichthyosaurs are reptiles and thus they are not dolphins (mammals) nor sharks (fish).

How big can ichthyosaurs get?

Fossils from the western United States and Canada indicate that some ichthyosaurs could exceed 13 metres (43 feet) in length. Deep-bodied and with long fins, these appear to have been ambush predators that fed on fishes.

What killed the ichthyosaurs?

While the rising temperatures may not have directly affected the ichthyosaurs, says lead author Valentin Fischer, a geologist at Belgium’s University of Liege, “related factors such as changes in food availability, migratory routes, competitors and birthing places are all potential drivers, probably occurring in …

What is an aquatic dinosaur?

The mosasaurs ruled the ocean in the late Cretaceous period. They were not sea dinosaurs, but a separate group of reptiles, more closely related to modern snakes and lizards, according to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum.

What is a water dinosaur called?

< Wikijunior:Dinosaurs. The Plesiosaur is not actually a dinosaur, but rather a large swimming reptile. Plesiosaur is Greek for “nearer to the reptiles”. This name given to this creature because it resembles something that is part reptile and part fish. The whole group of these animals are called plesiosaurs.

Are Mosasaurus still alive?

They were not sea dinosaurs, but a separate group of reptiles, more closely related to modern snakes and lizards, according to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. Mosasaurs went extinct 65.5 million years ago in the same mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, Live Science previously reported.