The fossil remains that emerged from the Swiss Alps at 2,800 meters belong to three ichthyosaurs, or three ancient giant marine reptiles that lived about 205 million years ago.
Among the finds, in addition to fragments of ribs and vertebrae, there is also the largest ichthyosaur tooth ever found, with a root diameter of 6 centimeters.
The study is published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology by researchers from the universities of Bonn and Zurich.
The findings add important new elements to reconstruct the life of these mysterious giants of the past, among the largest animals to ever live on Earth.
It is not surprising that the remains were found in the Alps, because the rock formations now found at high altitude once formed the bed of the great Tethys ocean.
It is no coincidence that "the richest fossil deposit is that of Besano-Monte San Giorgio, on the border between the province of Varese and Ticino: it is there that in 1993 we found the remains of Besanosaurus, an ichthyosaur 5.5 meters long", recalls Cristiano Dal Sasso, paleontologist of the Museum of Natural History in Milan.
"That specimen that lived 240 million years ago was in a sense the ancestor of the three examined in the new study."
In just over 30 million years, these marine reptiles have evolved by increasing their size, reaching the peak of their gigantism at the end of the Triassic, with specimens even more than 20 meters long.
"So far the most complete specimens have been found in America, but this finding in the Alps suggests the possibility that they had a more global distribution," explains Dal Sasso.
"Having a large size is advantageous because it allows you to level up in the food chain and better maintain body temperature," explains the paleontologist.
However, the mystery still remains of how these giants fed, which until now many thought were toothless a bit like the blue whale.
The study of the record tooth found in the Alps (slightly facing backwards) suggests that it was used to prey on squid.
