Kyhytysuka Sachicarum Fossil, Extinct Marine Reptile Found in Colombia

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – Scientists reveal species of ichthyosaur, or marine reptile with sharp teeth found in Colombia is actually Sachicarum. According to a study published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, a partial skull of an ichthyosaur, looking like a swordfish was found at Loma Pedro Luis, Villa de Leyva, in Boyacá, Colombia in the 1970s.

Reported CNN, Friday (12/3/2021), at that time, fossil it was labeled as a different species called Platypterygius sachicarum, but turned out to be wrong. Dirley Cortés, a doctoral candidate at the Redpath Museum at McGill University in Montreal, re-analyzed the fossil and found that it had been miscategorized.

The one-meter-long skull dates from 130 million to 115 million years, during the Cretaceous period, according to Cortés. This skeleton came after a global extinction event at the end of the Jurassic period, he added.

According to Cortés, Colombia was indeed a place of ancient biodiversity, so fossils such as these newly identified marine reptiles act as puzzle pieces for understanding the evolution of marine ecosystems. After this discovery, Cortés said he turned his attention to analyzing fossils at the Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas of Villa de Leyva, Colombia.

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