With a skull size of 2 m (6.6 feet) and an estimated body size of 17 m (56 feet), the newly-identified ichthyosaur species is the largest animal discovered from the Middle Triassic epoch (242-244 million years ago). Named Cymbospondylus youngorum, the giant marine reptile existed at most 8 million years after the emergence of the first ichthyosaurs, suggesting a much more rapid size expansion that may have been fueled by processes after the Permian...
