Mixosauridae

Mixosauridae was an early group of ichthyosaurs, living between 247.2 and 235 million years ago, during the Triassic period. Fossils of mixosaurs have been found across the Northern Hemisphere.

Mixosauridae

Dmitry Bogdanov · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikidata/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
HueneosauriaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyopterygia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ichthyosauria

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 248.6 Mya to 237 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 251.902 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 40 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 5 of 40 occurrencesEarly TriassicMiddle Triassic — about 32 of 40 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 2 of 40 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 40 occurrences253–251 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences251–249 Mya — about 3 occurrences249–248 Mya — about 2 occurrences248–246 Mya — about 4 occurrences246–244 Mya — about 7 occurrences244–242 Mya — about 13 occurrences242–241 Mya — about 6 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 0.1 occurrences248.6 Mya237 Mya253 Mya200 Mya

40 occurrences of Mixosauridae 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

40 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

9 formations

Guanling — 25.47°N, 104.83°EGuanling — 24.78°N, 104.33°EGuanling — 24.88°N, 104.31°EGuanling — 25.60°N, 104.98°EGuanling — 24.53°N, 103.85°ESulphur Mountain — 54.52°N, 120.72°WSulphur Mountain — 54.53°N, 121.67°WFavret — 40.06°N, 117.56°WFavret — 40.22°N, 117.63°WFavret — 40.05°N, 117.54°WFavret — 40.03°N, 117.57°WMonte San Giorgio bituminous shales — 45.15°N, 9.23°EBesano — 45.91°N, 8.94°EJena — 51.22°N, 11.77°EPrida — 40.13°N, 118.30°WBesano — 45.89°N, 8.90°EStockletten — 47.80°N, 12.17°E

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The named rock units Mixosauridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 14 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mixosauridae and its relatives

Middle Triassic

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

Found in the same rock

96 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 35 sites for Mixosauridae, 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

26 references

Each of the 40 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. 14 further references are not listed. 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 content1

Picture of Mixosauridae

Credit
Dmitry Bogdanov
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Mixosauridae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itHueneosauria through timeFormations of the Middle TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Baur 1887