Ophthalmosaurus is a genus of ichthyosaur known from the Middle-Late Jurassic. Possible remains from the earliest Cretaceous, around 145 million years ago, are also known. It was a relatively medium-sized ichthyosaur, measuring 4 m (13 ft) long and weighing 930–950 kg (2,050–2,090 lb). Named for its extremely large eyes, it had a jaw containing many small but robust teeth. Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in Europe with a second species possibly being found in North America.
Platypterygius is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within Platypterygius likely are undiagnostic at the genus or species level, or represent distinct genera, even being argued as invalid. While fossils referred to Platypterygius have been found throughout different continents, the holotype specimen was found in Germany.
Plutoniosaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur of uncertain validity from the Early Cretaceous of the vicinity of Ulyanovsk, European Russia.
Caypullisaurus is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of Argentina. Its holotype was collected from the Vaca Muerta Formation of Cerro Lotena, Neuquen, dating to the early Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. Caypullisaurus was first named by Marta Fernández in 1997 and the type species is Caypullisaurus bonapartei. It was a large ichthyosaur, measuring about 7 m (23 ft) long.
Ophthalmosauridae is an extinct family of thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous worldwide. Almost all ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic onwards belong to the family, until the extinction of ichthyosaurs in the early Late Cretaceous. Opthalmosaurids appeared worldwide during early Bajocian, subsequent to the disappearance of most other ichthyosaur lineages after the end of the Toarcian. Currently, the oldest known ophthalmosaurids is Mollesaurus from the early Bajocian of Argentina, as well as indeterminate remains of the same age from Luxembourg and Canada. Named by George H. Baur, in 1887, the family contains the basal taxa like Ophthalmosaurus. Appleby (1956) named the taxon Ophthalmosauria which was followed by some authors, but these two names are often treated as synonyms; Ophthalmosauridae has the priority over Ophthalmosauria. However, some researchers argue that Ophthalmosauridae should be restricted to the group typically referred to as Ophthalmosaurinae, with classic Platypterygiinae instead being referred to as Undorosauridae or Brachypterygiidae and Ophthalmosauria being used to unite these two groups.
Brachypterygius is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from the Late Jurassic of England. The type species was originally described and named as Ichthyosaurus extremus by Boulenger in 1904. Brachypterygius was named by Huene in 1922 for the width and shortness of the forepaddle, and the type species is therefore Brachypterygius extremus. The holotype of B. extremus was originally thought to be from the Lias Group of Bath, United Kingdom, but other specimens suggest it more likely came from the Kimmeridgian Kimmeridge Clay of Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset, UK.
Undorosaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from western Russia, Svalbard, and Poland. It was a large ichthyosaur, with the type species measuring 4–6 metres (13–20 ft) long.
Mollesaurus is an extinct genus of large ophthalmosaurine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from northwestern Patagonia of Argentina.
Baptanodon is an ichthyosaur of the Late Jurassic period, named for its supposed lack of teeth. It had a graceful 3.5 m (11 ft) long dolphin-shaped body, and its jaws were well adapted for catching squid. Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in North America. The type species, Sauranodon natans, was originally included under Sauranodon in 1879, but this name was preoccupied.
Maiaspondylus is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs known from Northwest Territories of Canada, the Cambridge Greensand of England and the Voronezh Region of Russia.
Simbirskiasaurus is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. Its type specimen is YKM 65119, a fragmentary skull and vertebral column.
Arthropterygius is a widespread genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur which existed in Canada, Norway, Russia, and Argentina from the late Jurassic period and possibly to the earliest Cretaceous.
Athabascasaurus is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from Alberta, Canada.
Sveltonectes is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs known from Ul’yanovsk region, western Russia.
Acamptonectes is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs, a type of dolphin-like marine reptiles, that lived during the Early Cretaceous around 130 million years ago. The first specimen, a partial adult skeleton, was discovered in Speeton, England, in 1958, but was not formally described until 2012 by Valentin Fischer and colleagues. They also recognised a partial subadult skeleton belonging to the genus from Cremlingen, Germany, and specimens from other localities in England. The genus contains the single species Acamptonectes densus; the generic name means "rigid swimmer" and the specific name means "compact" or "tightly packed".
Ophthalmosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of ophthalmosaurid thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the late Early Cretaceous of Europe, North America and South America. Currently, the oldest and the basalmost, known as ophthalmosaurine is Mollesaurus from the early Bajocian of Argentina. Ophthalmosaurines were characterized by a large extracondylar area of the basioccipital in the form of a thick and concave peripheral band, posterodistally deflected ulnar facet of the humerus, large ulna with concave and edgy posterior surface and ischiopubis with obturator foramen.
Sisteronia is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from the 'middle' Cretaceous of southeastern England and southeastern France. It contains a single species, Sisteronia seeleyi.
Pervushovisaurus is a genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Saratov region in western Russia, the La Penthiève Beds of France and the Cambridge area of the UK.
This timeline of ichthyosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ichthyosauromorphs, a group of secondarily aquatic marine reptiles whose later members superficially resembled dolphins, sharks, or swordfish. Scientists have documented ichthyosaur fossils at least as far back as the late 17th century. At that time, a scholar named Edward Lhuyd published a book on British fossils that misattributed some ichthyosaur vertebrae to actual fishes; their true nature was not recognized until the 19th century. In 1811, a boy named Joseph Anning discovered the first ichthyosaur fossils that would come to be scientifically recognized as such. His sister Mary would later find the rest of its skeleton and would go on to become a respected fossil collector and paleontologist in her own right.
Keilhauia is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur, a type of dolphin-like, large-eyed marine reptile, from the Early Cretaceous shallow marine Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation in Svalbard, Norway. The genus contains a single species, K. nui, known from a single specimen discovered in 2010 and described by Delsett et al. in 2017. In life, Keilhauia probably measured approximately 4 metres (13 ft) in length; it can be distinguished by other ophthalmosaurids by the wide top end of its ilium and the relatively short ischiopubis compared to the femur. Although it was placed in a basal position within the Ophthalmosauridae by phylogenetic analysis, this placement is probably incorrect.
