Lastly, we looked at the distribution of foetuses in ichthyosaurs more general. We conclude that the uterine track is dorsal to the gastro-intestinal track, that foetuses are carried far anterior, both uterine cornu are functional and spacious allowing for foetuses to stack on each other.
We were able to identify many elements of the skeleton (such as the parietal (A) and quadratojugal (B). It is a foetus very close to birth. One of the more peculiar features is teeth on the palatine (C) (rarely seen in ichthyosaurs), which we think is a developmental remnant.
Baby ichthyosaur alert! Here we describe the Besanosaurus foetus for the first time in detail. The holotype of Besanosaurus was thought to preserve embryonic material earlier, but here we studied it in detail. It is a single foetus. lying in tail-first presentation.
fr.pensoft.net/article/1831...
Forget about Spinosaurus or Tylosaurus rex. This is by far the most impactful paper of 2026. I heard it was coming but was still amazed. Eunotosaurus is a millirettid and I am convinced of it!
π¨NEW STUDY DROPπ¨
A new specimen of the Middle Triassic Ichthyosaur, Besanosaurus, has been described with an in-utero fetus revealed through X-ray imaging. The fetus is oriented tail-first, something seen more often in advanced icthyosaurs!
π¨: Fabio Manucci
ICHTHYOSAUR GANG RISE UP!
new #openaccess paper by miedema et al. describes a foetus in utero of the shastasaurid ichthyosaur besanosaurus from middle triassic italy
fr.pensoft.net/article/1831...
π¦ A single, late-stage foetus has been described in detail within the right uterine horn of the early-diverging ichthyosaur Besanosaurus leptorhynchus.
π The orientation of the fossilised remains suggests a tail-first birth took place!
β‘οΈ Find out more: doi.org/10.3897/fr.29.183128
Besanosaurus leptorhynchus is an early-diverging merriamosaurian ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Alpine Europe. When the holotype specimen was first described, potential foeta...
Our paper on turtle origins is finally out in Current Biology, with two major implications for our understanding of reptile evolution π’
#Paleontology #Turtles #Evolution
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Our paper on turtle origins is finally out in Current Biology, with two major implications for our understanding of reptile evolution π’
#Paleontology #Turtles #Evolution
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Baby ichthyosaur alert! Here we describe the Besanosaurus foetus for the first time in detail. The holotype of Besanosaurus was thought to preserve embryonic material earlier, but here we studied it in detail. It is a single foetus. lying in tail-first presentation.
fr.pensoft.net/article/1831...
