Dotted Zebra/Alamy
How did marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs breathe?
Mike Benton
Professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol, UK
Like modern whales, the Mesozoic marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs had land-living ancestors. In the case of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, these land-dwelling ancestors were probably something like lizards.
We know that the various ancient marine reptiles produced their young live at sea, as whales and dolphins do today. The fetuses developed fully inside the mother and were born straight into the water, where they rushed to the surface to take their first gulp of air.
The evidence that these…
