Temnodontosauridae

Temnodontosaurus is an extinct genus of large ichthyosaurs that lived during the Lower Jurassic in what is now Europe and possibly Chile. The first known fossil is a specimen consisting of a complete skull and partial skeleton discovered on a cliff by Joseph and Mary Anning around the early 1810s in Dorset, England. The anatomy of this specimen was subsequently analyzed in a series of articles written by Sir Everard Home between 1814 and 1819, making it the very first ichthyosaur to have been scientifically described. In 1822, the specimen was assigned to the genus Ichthyosaurus by William Conybeare, and more precisely to the species I. platyodon. Noting the large dental differences with other species of Ichthyosaurus, Richard Lydekker suggested in 1889 moving this species into a separate genus, which he named Temnodontosaurus. While many species have been assigned to the genus, only five are currently recognized as valid, the others being considered as synonymous, doubtful or possibly belonging to other taxa.