Arctic Fossils Show Ocean Life Rebounded Quickly After Mass Extinction

Earliest oceanic tetrapod ecosystem reveals rapid complexification of Triassic marine communities

Vertebral microstructure marks the emergence of pelagic ichthyosaurs soon after the End Permian Mass Extinction - Scientific Reports

Ichthyosaurs were the first fully marine tetrapods, and evolved a streamlined body, flippers, live birth, and endothermy-like physiology. However, the transition to these adaptations and how it relates to divergence into ocean environments is ambiguous. Here, we use vertebral bone microstructure to document the first ontogenetic series of two Early Triassic taxa that include the oldest ichthyosaur foetal fossils. One series is from Grippia, an e…

Fossils reveal marine life returned 3 million years after mass die-off

Experts from the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo and the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm suggest the fossils belonged to a 249-million-year-old community of these marine creatures.

30,000 fossils uncovered in the Arctic show how oceans came back to life after the ‘Great Dying’

Science News: Arctic fossils reveal the oldest known oceanic reptile ecosystem from the Age of Dinosaurs. Over 30,000 specimens show marine life, including diverse

Oldest oceanic reptile ecosystem from the Age of Dinosaurs found on Arctic island

More than 30,000 teeth, bones and other fossils from a 249 million-year-old community of extinct marine reptiles, amphibians, bony fish and sharks have been discovered on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen. These record the earliest radiation of land-living animals into oceanic ecosystems following cataclysmic extinction and extreme global warming at the dawn of the Age of Dinosaurs.

How dinosaur fossils became collectables for the mega-rich

Dinosaur fossils are prized like blue-chip artworks and are even accelerating past the prices of many Old Masters paintings, says Chris Carter