Functional morphology and biomechanics.............. 147
Basic Principles...................................... ...................... 147
Swimming of Stenopterygius.......................................... 147
Vision and Bio-optics..................................................... 148
Body Mass...................................................^.................. 148
Alphabetic Listing of Taxonomic Names.................. 150
Genera and Subgenera................................................... 150
Species and Subspecies.................................................. 151
Categorized Listing of Taxonomic Names................ 156
Valid Names................................................................... 156
Genera........................................................................ 156
Species................................................................. 156
Species inquirendae.................................................. 157
Nomina dubia................................................................ 157
Genera........................................................................ 157
Species and Subspecies............................................ 157
Nomina nuda................................................................. 158
Homonyms....................................................... 158
Synonyms........................................................................ 158
Genera........................................................................ 158
Species and Subspecies............................................ 158
Non-Ichthyosaurian........................................................ 159
Other............................................................................... 159
Character Matrix and Description................................ 160
Literature Cited................................................................ 165
Index of Genera................................................................ 175
Introduction
Lyme Regis, on the southwest coast of England, is generally
considered the historical birthplace of ichthyosaurs
because it is there, during the early part of the nineteenth
century, that the first specimen was discovered that was
brought to scientific attention (Home, 1814). However, ich-
thyosaurian remains were found more than a century before
that time, though their true identity was unrecognized
(Delair, 1969; Callaway, 1997). According to Callaway
(1997), the first illustrations of ichthyosaurian material
were published in 1699 by the British naturalist E. Lhwyd,
who attributed these remains to fishes. This was followed
in 1708 by the discovery of some ichthyosaurian vertebrae
in southern Germany by J. Scheuchzer, who ascribed them
to a human victim of the Noachian flood. Much more
ichthyosaurian material was found during the latter part
of the eighteenth century, primarily from the southwest of
England. These specimens, some of which were reported
by Walcot (1779), were found at several localities, both in
Dorset and in the adjoining county of Somerset, to the
north. Most of these early discoveries comprised isolated
teeth, vertebral centra, and other fragmentary material.
However, in 1803, an entire ichthyosaur skeleton was discovered
in a Somerset quarry by the Reverend Peter Hawker
(1807; see Delair, 1969). For many years this specimen
was housed in a rectory in Gloucester, but it has since been
lost. Like almost every other ichthyosaurian discovery of
those times, the skeleton was referred to as a crocodile.
Hawker’s (1807) paper was published in the popular Gentleman’s
Magazine, but no account was ever given in the
learned journals. H ome was aware of this skeleton, and
referred to it in his 1818 paper. The celebrated surgeon and
anatomist John Hunter, who died in 1793, had over 80
reptilian fossils in his collection, including ichthyosaurian
material from Dorset and Somerset (Delair, 1969). Home
was his brother-in-law, as well as executor of his will, and
must therefore have had ready access to this material.
The ichthyosaurian skull described by H ome (1814),
generally referred to as the first recorded ichthyosaur, was
discovered in 1810 and collected in 1811. Mary Anning,
one of the greatest fossil collectors of all times, is usually
given sole credit for the discovery, made when she was
only 11 years old. However, it was her brother, Joseph, two
years her senior, who made the find initially (Lang, 1959).
There is some question as to how much material was
originally found, but the specimen now comprises a large
skull, just over 1 m long, and a short string of cervical and
dorsal vertebrae with ribs. It is now on public display at
the Natural History Museum in London (BMNH R1158),
and is identified as Temnodontosaurus platyodon.
Home (1814) admitted that he initially thought the
specimen was a crocodile. However, when he saw the
amphicoelous vertebrae, which he believed were unique to
fishes, he thought it must be some sort of fish. But he wrote
that: “I by no means consider it as wholly a fish . . . ”
concluding it formed a link between fishes and crocodiles.
He struggled with the problem of ichthyosaurian affinities
for several years, finally naming the new find Proteosaurus
(Home, 1819A), concluding it formed a link between lizards
and salamanders (Home, 1819B). But by this time
KOnig’s (1818) name of Ichthyosaurus was already in use.
Although Proteosaurus has priority over Ichthyosaurus (initially
a nomen nudum) as the first generic name applied
to an ichthyosaur, it has rarely been used, having become
a forgotten name.
The first substantive accounts of ichthyosaurs were
given by de la Beche & Conybeare (1821) and Conybeare
(1822), and later by Owen (1840, 1851, 1881, 1849-84). In
one of his earliest palaeontological papers, Owen (1838)
drew attention to the apparent dislocation of the tail that is
seen in many skeletons. Believing this to be a post-mortem
effect, he concluded that ichthyosaurs “were devoid of any
locomotive organ analogous to the tail-fin of the Cetacea
... .” He thought this deficiency was compensated for by
their pelvic fins, which cetaceans lacked, though he did not
dismiss the possibility that ichthyosaurs had some sort of
“terminal tegumentary and ligamentous caudal fin . . . ”
(Owen, 1838). H awkins (1840) correctly recognized that the
tailbend was natural, and depicted ichthyosaurs with a
kinked vertebral column in the frontispiece of his 1834
volume. One of the ichthyosaurs is shown basking on the
beach, reflecting the general belief that they could haul up
on land, like a present-day seal. This view predominated
for much of the nineteenth century, and Owen selected a
basking posture for the life-sized ichthyosaurian models
adorning the grounds of the Crystal Palace. These models,
alongside those of Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, can still be
seen today at the Crystal Palace park, in Sydenham, on the
outskirts of central London.
Ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were the first Mesozoic
reptiles to be found in a well-preserved and complete state,
giving the populace its first substantive glance of vertebrate
life in the remote past. This explains why one of the
first reconstructions of prehistoric life, de la Beche’s Duria
Antiquior, depicted ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs in the
ancient seas of Dorset. The earliest dinosaurian discoveries,
in contrast, were quite fragmentary, and it was many
years before they eclipsed ichthyosaurs in popularity.
The straight-tailed, beach-hauling image of ichthyosaurs
prevailed throughout Owen’s lifetime. However,
this was abandoned when ichthyosaurian skeletons were
discovered in which the body outline was preserved as
a carbonaceous film. These remarkably well-preserved