Longirostria is an ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurian reptile from the Early-Late Cretaceous of Australia. It was officially named in 1998 by Maxim S. Archangelsky. It was one of the last ichthyosaurs to survive in the Mesozoic. As well as this, it was once thought to be a species of Ichthyosaurus before being reclassified as a species of the now-dubious ichthyosaur genus "Platypterygius"; now, it is considered to be its own genus.
Physiology[]
Longirostria was an ichthyosaur with a sleek, streamlined body, 4 flippers, a long tail with a shark-like fin on its end, a large fin on its back, a conical head with large jaws, and small eyes on the sides of its head. Its body would have been covered in scaly skin.
Diet[]
Longirostria was a predator, preying on plesiosaurs and turtles by crushing their bodies with its sturdy and heavily-built teeth. One specimen was reported with unique stomach contents, and it is speculated that some individuals were bold enough to jump out of the water and catch primitive seabirds passing by.
Ecology[]
The most interesting thing to note about Longirostria is that, unlike earlier Cretaceous ichthyosaurs and much like those closer to its time, it specialized in preying on larger animals. While earlier ichthyosaurs had a streamlined body plan and long flippers for pursuing fast prey like fish and cephalopods and thin and pointy teeth for snagging prey, Longirostria had a bulkier build and shorter flippers for chasing and overpowering more heavyweight prey such as marine reptiles, which it would then crush with their sturdy and robust teeth; in fact, it is known to have had preyed on passing seabirds on time to time. Another interesting thing to note about Longirostria is that it gave live birth; babies were expelled from their mother's womb head-first in order to prevent any risk of drowning. A CAT scan on the fossilized bones of a juvenile Longirostria has led everyone to believe that it was most likely deaf, mainly because their ear bones were too thick to detect noise vibrations and set too deep in their skull; these CAT scans also showed that it had a sensitive snout, which most likely served a similar purpose to the lateral line of a shark.