July 30, 2026

Illustration by artist Peter Trusler depicting the interaction between an ichthyosaur, a pterosaur, and a pliosaur. (Image courtesy Peter Trusler)

An article published in the journal “Gondwana Research” reports the discovery of an ichthyosaur fossil in present-day Australia that preserved the contents of its stomach, which includes the remains of a pterosaur. The ichthyosaur itself shows remarkable signs of having been bitten by a pliosaur, which literally broke its bones. A team of researchers led by Dr. Matt White of the University of New England studied these fossils and reconstructed this snapshot of the ecosystem in which these animals lived during the Cretaceous Period. The result reveals a portion of the food chain that existed in that area approximately 100 million years ago.