What is Utatsusaurus?
{{italictitle}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Early Triassic]], {{fossil range|248|245}} | image = Utatsusaurus hataii.JPG | image_caption = Fossil | display_parents = 2 | parent_authority = McGowan & Motani, 2003 | taxon = Utatsusaurus | authority = Shikama ''et al.'', 1978 | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Utatsusaurus hataii''''' | type_species_authority = Shikama ''et al.'', 1978 }} '''''Utatsusaurus''''' is the earliest-known form of an [[ichthyopterygia]]n. It lived in the earliest [[Lower Triassic]] period, about 250{{ndash}}245 millions years ago. It is nearly 3m (about 9 feet) long with a slender body.<ref name=motani1998>Motani R; Minoura N. and Ando T. 1998. ''Ichthyosaurian relationships illuminated by new primitive skeletons from Japan''. ''Nature''. '''393''' (6682): 255-257. {{doi|10.1038/30473}}</ref> The name ''Utatsusaurus'' was given after the city [[Utatsu, Miyagi|Utatsu-cho]] where the first specimen was found.<ref name=shikama>Shikama T; Kamei T. and Murata M. 1977. Early Triassic ichthyosaur, ''Utatsusaurus hataii'' gen. et sp. nov., from the Kitakami Massif, Northeast Japan. ''Science Reports of the Tohoku University Second Series (Geology)''. '''48''' (1-2): 77-97.</ref> The fossils have been found in the [[Lower Triassic]] of [[Miyagi Prefecture]], [[Japan]] and [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]].<ref>Motani R. 1999. Phylogeny of the Ichthyopterygia. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology''. '''19''' (3): 473-496.</ref> ''Utatsusaurus'' is one of the most [[primitive]] ([[basal]]) types of [[ichthyosaur]].<ref name=motani1997>Motani R. 1997. New information on the forefin of ''Utatsusaurus hataii'' (Ichthyosauria). ''Journal of Paleontology''. '''71''' (3):475-479.</ref><ref name=motani2005>Motani R. 2005. Evolution of fish-shaped reptiles (Reptilia : Ichthyopterygia) in their physical environments and constraints. ''Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences''. '''33''': 395-420. {{doi|10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122707}}</ref> It has [[transitional fossil|transitional]]