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Early Ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaurs were big-eyed, dolphin-shaped marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. This specimen, uncovered in the hills of Guizhou Province, China, was an early species that had a rather reptilian look; later species took on a more fishlike form.

Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta