Evolution et extinctions des ichthyosaures

lchthyosaurs are marine reptiles that colonized numerous ecological niches during the Mesozoic. ln addition to their morphology similar to that of fast swimming sharks and teleosts, ichthyosaurs have the particularity to go extinct before the CretaceousPalaeogene boundary, during the Cenomanian (early Late Cretaceous). Although many ichthyosaur-rich localities have been known for a long ti me, the extinction phases that marked the ir history were analysed and quantified in detail only recently. This article summarizes the evolutionary history of ichthyosaurs, with a focus on these extinctions phases.