Surviving the 'Great Dying': Oldest 'Fish-Lizard' Fossils Discovered.

The oldest ichthyosaur remains ever uncovered have been found on Spitsbergen, a remote Arctic island in Norway, dating back to the early Triassic period, 250 million years ago. The discovery suggests that ichthyosaurs and other marine reptiles may have emerged before the Permian mass extinction event, which wiped out around 90% of all life on Earth around 251.9 million years ago. The fossils consist of 11 tail vertebrae and have a spongy structure that appears to be well adapted to aquatic life, indicating that the ichthyosaur lineage likely emerged before the catastrophic event occurred.