Stenopterygius
Name:
Stenopterygius
(Narrow wing).
Phonetic: Sten-op-teh-re-ge-us.
Named By: Otto Jaekel - 1904.
Synonyms: Ichthyosaurus quadriscissus,
I. triscissus, Stenopterygius eos, S. incessus, S.
hauffianus, S. longifrons, S. megacephalus, S.
megalorhinus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Ichthyosauria, Stenopterygiidae.
Species: S. quadriscissus
(type), S. triscissus, S. uniter, S.
aaleniensis.
Diet: Piscivore/carnivore.
Size: Average around 3 to 4 meters long,
depending upon the species.
Known locations: England, France, Germany,
Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Time period: Toarcian to Aalenian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Over 100 specimens.
Stenopterygius
is yet another example of a genus that once had a large number of
species assigned to it only for most of these to now be regarded as
synonyms to other previously named species. In addition while some of
the remains of one species, S. hauffianus were
reassigned to the
type species S. quadriscissus, some of the
former remains of this
species were used to establish the genus Hauffiopteryx.
Also like
with many other ichthyosaurs,
Stenopterygius was
initially described
as a species of Ichthyosaurus
by Stenopterygius in 1856, until Otto
Jaekel discovered the remains to actually belong to a distinct genus.
At
least one well preserved specimen of Stenopterygius
shows a large
embryo inside the body of a female. Combined with other specimens
showing the actual birth of baby ichthyosaurs, this helps prove
without doubt that ichthyosaurs were viviparous reptiles, which in
laymens terms means that they gave birth to live young instead of
laying eggs. Although this might seem strange, live birth is
actually well documented in some species of reptiles, including some
modern species of snake and lizard alive today. Baby ichthyosaurs are
also known to be born tail first so that they didn’t drown while being
passed out of the birth canal.
Like
with the majority of other icthyosaurs, Stenopterygius
was a pelagic
(open seas) hunter of fish and cephalopods like squid. In this
environment its streamlined body would have afforded Stenopterygius
with a high degree of speed and mobility, allowing it to hunt in a
similar manner to a dolphin. Possible predators of Jurassic era
ichthyosaurs like Stenopterygius may have included
large pliosaurs
similar to Simolestes
and Pliosaurus
(although these two genera lived
a little later than Stenopterygius). Although
while in the water
Stenopterygius would have been very difficult to
catch, they like
other marine reptiles would still need to surface to breathe in fresh
air, and it would be then that they would be at their most vulnerable.
Further reading
- Revision der Gattung Stenopterygius Jaekel, 1904
emend. von Huene,
1922 (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) aus dem unteren Jura Westeuropas -
Palaeodiversity 1: 227–271. - Michael W. Maisch - 2008.
- First diagnostic marine reptile remains from the Aalenian (Middle
Jurassic): a new ichthyosaur from southwestern Germany - PLoS ONE
7(8):e41692 - E. E. Maxwell, M. S. Fern�ndez & R. R. Schoch -
2012.
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