Ichthyosaur from Guizhou, China

A new ichthyosaur is named and described on the basis of two well-preserved skeletons from the Late Triassic Wayao Member of Falang Formation, Guizhou Province, southwestern China. The specimens represent a longipinnate ichthyosaur with a set of characters transitional from the Triassic forms to the Jurassic forms. It is similar to shastasaurids of the Triassic in the relative size and shape of the limbs but resemblesOphthalmosaurus andBaptanodon of the Jurassic in the shape of the skull. The new taxon differs from all other ichthyosaurs found in China in its unusual large orbit, distinct rostrum, and the hind limbs, that are slightly stronger than the fore ones.