Cymbospondylus

Cymbospondylus is an extinct genus of large ichthyosaurs, of which it is among the oldest representatives, that lived from the Lower to Middle Triassic in what are now North America and Europe. The first known fossils of this taxon are a set of more or less complete vertebrae which were discovered in the 19th century in various mountain ranges of Nevada, in the United States, before being named and described by Joseph Leidy in 1868. It is in the beginning of the 20th century that more complete fossils were discovered through several expeditions to the Fossil Hill Member launched by the University of California, and described in more detail by John Campbell Merriam in 1908, thus visualizing the overall anatomy of the animal. While many species have been assigned to the genus, only five are recognized as valid, the others being considered synonymous, doubtful or belonging to other genera. Cymbospondylus was formerly classified as a representative of the Shastasauridae, but more recent studies consider it to be more basal, view as the type genus of the Cymbospondylidae.

Cymbospondylus

Neil Pezzoni · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CymbospondylidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyopterygia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ichthyosauria

Time the record covers

At least 5.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 247 Mya to 241.464 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 251.902 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 17 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 1 of 17 occurrencesEarly TriassicMiddle Triassic — about 14 of 17 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 1 of 17 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 17 occurrences253–251 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences251–249 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences249–248 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences248–246 Mya — about 1 occurrence246–244 Mya — about 1 occurrence244–242 Mya — about 3 occurrences242–241 Mya — about 4 occurrences241–239 Mya — about 2 occurrences239–237 Mya — about 2 occurrences237–235 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences235–234 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences234–232 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences232–230 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences230–228 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences228–227 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences227–225 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences225–223 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences223–221 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences221–220 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences220–218 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences218–216 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences216–214 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences214–213 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences213–211 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences211–209 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences209–207 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences207–206 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences202–200 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences247 Mya – 241.464 Mya253 Mya200 Mya

17 occurrences of Cymbospondylus on record, most of them in the Middle Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

17 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

8 formations

Prida — 40.13°N, 118.30°WBotneheia — 78.31°N, 16.48°EBotneheia — 78.49°N, 18.91°EFavret — 40.00°N, 117.54°WFavret — 40.06°N, 117.56°WThaynes — 42.48°N, 111.42°WBesano — 45.91°N, 8.94°ECalcare del Clapsavon — 46.38°N, 12.67°EBuchsteiner — 46.60°N, 11.72°EJena — 51.22°N, 11.77°E

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The named rock units Cymbospondylus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cymbospondylus and its relatives

Middle Triassic

Where Cymbospondylus and its relatives were recorded in the Middle Triassic.

Found in the same rock

27 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 14 sites for Cymbospondylus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 17 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Cymbospondylus

Credit
Neil Pezzoni
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCymbospondylidae through timeFormations of the Middle TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Leidy 1868