The largest animals of their age
Ichthyosaurs reach twenty metres — rivalling the biggest whales, 200 million years early.
- When
- Known to
- ± 5 million years
- Era
- Triassic, Mesozoic
Shonisaurus sikanniensis, from British Columbia, reached around 21 metres, and fragmentary jawbones attributed to Ichthyotitan severnensis suggest an animal near 25 metres — approaching blue whale dimensions. These giants appear to have been filter- or suction-feeders exploiting abundant plankton-based food chains. All of them disappear at the end of the Triassic.