Khudiakovia
Khudiakovia was a fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the oceans during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods. It had a huge eye, a long snout, and a body shaped like a dolphin. It was not a dinosaur, but a type of ichthyosaur.1
When did it live?
Fun facts
Khudiakovia had an enormous eye, which helped it see in the dark ocean depths. The eye socket was very large compared to its skull.1
Its bones were made of hydroxyapatite, the same mineral that makes your teeth and bones hard.1
Khudiakovia gave birth to live young, just like whales and dolphins do today. It did not lay eggs.1
This ichthyosaur lived from about 201 million years ago to about 132 million years ago, a span of nearly 70 million years.1
Khudiakovia was a fast swimmer that moved through the water like a fish. Its body was built for speed.1
Most asked questions about Khudiakovia
?How big was Khudiakovia?
Nobody knows for sure because no complete skeleton has been found. It was a medium-sized ichthyosaur, and related species like Ophthalmosaurus were about 4 metres (13 feet) long.25
?What did Khudiakovia eat?
It was a carnivore that ate fish and squid. Its conical teeth were good for catching slippery prey.34
?Could Khudiakovia swim fast?
Yes, it was a fast swimmer. Its body was streamlined like a dolphin’s, and it used its tail fluke for powerful strokes.3
?Did Khudiakovia have feathers?
No, it was a marine reptile, not a dinosaur. It had smooth skin and flippers, not feathers.3
?When did Khudiakovia live?
It lived during the Callovian age of the Jurassic Period, about 165 to 161 million years ago.5
?Was Khudiakovia a dinosaur?
No, it was an ichthyosaur, a type of marine reptile that lived in the sea. Ichthyosaurs are not dinosaurs.3
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Khudiakovia
- Named by
- Arkhangelsky 19995
- Group
- Ichthyosaurs
- Family / clade
- Ophthalmosauridae5
- Classification
- Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha5
- Age of the rocks
- 201 to 133 million years (Hettangian / Valanginian)5
- Countries
- Russia5
- Fossil records
- 27 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Khudiakovia was named by Russian paleontologist Arkhangelsky in 1999. The first fossils were found in the Saratov region of Russia.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Khudiakovia is a valid genus. Some researchers think it might be the same animal as Ophthalmosaurus.1
Where the facts come from
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Ophthalmosaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
- Ichthyosauria (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic (Early Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, UK, with implications for Late Jurassic ichthyosaur diversity | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
- Khudiakovia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Ichthyosaurus
Platypterygius
Stenopterygius
Ophthalmosaurus
Chonespondylus
Cymbospondylus
Pterodactylus
Peloneustes
Rhamphocephalus
Gongbusaurus
Shunosaurus
Bishanopliosaurus