Ichthyosaur’s Last Meal Is Evidence of Triassic Megapredation

Andy Fell — August 20, 2020 - 7:53am

Some 240 million years ago, a dolphinlike ichthyosaur ripped to pieces and swallowed another marine reptile only a little smaller than itself. Then it almost immediately died and was fossilized, preserving the first evidence of megapredation, or a large animal preying on another large animal. The fossil, discovered in 2010 in southwestern China, is described in a paper published Aug. 20 in the journal iScience.

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Ichthyosaur’s Last Meal Is Evidence of Triassic Megapredation