Animal Species:Platypterygius australis Platypterygius longmani
was an ichthyosaur, a dolphin-like marine reptile that roamed
the Eromanga Sea of inland Australia during the Early
Cretaceous. This large ichthyosaur would have been a top marine
predator, feeding on fish and cephalopods. Ichthyosaurs had the
largest eyes of any vertebrate, and keen eyesight would have
helped Platypterygius to spot prey in dark, cold waters.
Ichthyosaurs were air-breathing, dolphin-like marine reptiles
with spindle-shaped bodies, long, toothed snouts with up to 200
conical teeth, front and back limbs that formed two sets of
paddles, and shark-like dorsal and tail fins. Unlike dolphins or
whales that have horizontal tails, the tails of ichthyosaurs
were vertically aligned. Platypterygius was a large-bodied
ophthalmosaurid with a low-crowned skull, long snout, small
orbit and long postorbital region. Its tooth roots are
quadrangular in cross section. Platypterygius longmani differs
from other Platypterygius species in characters o