100-Million-Year-Old Fossil Preserves an Ichthyosaur That Ate a Pterosaur Before Becoming Food for a Giant Predator | Discover Magazineskip to main content

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100-Million-Year-Old Fossil Preserves an Ichthyosaur That Ate a Pterosaur Before Becoming Food for a Giant Predator<br>Discover a unique fossil find from the Australian Outback detailing how a large ichthyosaur preyed on a pterosaur before it became prey itself, a first of it's kind find.<br>Written byMonica CullMonica Cull

Monica Cull is a Digital Editor/Writer for Discover Magazine who writes and edits articles focusing on animal sciences, ancient humans, national parks, and health trends.<br>View Full Profile.<br>Learn about our Editorial Policy.

2026-08-03T21:00:00 | 3 min read

Ichthyosaur fossil, similar to what was discovered in the Outback, not associated with this study. (Image Credit: MGARCIA_CREATIVE/Shutterstock) Newsletter<br>Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

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Before the Queensland Outback transformed into the dry and dusty climate it is today, it was covered by the sea. And beneath those waves, a “crime” lost to the sands of time took place.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-shared">

Thanks to fossilized evidence from Richmond, Queensland, researchers found a marine reptile had eaten a flying reptile shortly before becoming a meal for a larger predator. This is some of the first fossilized evidence of its kind, according to a study in the journal Gondwana Research, and helps us better understand what happened beneath ancient waves over 100 million years ago.<br>“I was amazed by the size of the ichthyosaur, and shocked to see it littered with bite marks and partially exposed pterosaur remains behind the skull,” Matt White, a research associate at the University of New England and lead author of the study, said in a press release.<br>Fossilized Marine Predator to Prey<br>Inside the fossilized belly of a 19- to 22-foot ichthyosaur — a prehistoric dolphin-like marine reptile — researchers uncovered something they’d never seen before. Thanks to advanced 3D imaging, the research team found pieces of a pterosaur, a flying reptile, inside the ichthyosaur’s fossilized stomach contents.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-mobile-1">

According to the study, this is the first known evidence of an ichthyosaur consuming a pterosaur. But the ichthyosaur fossil revealed something else. On closer inspection, the ichthyosaur fossil — which belonged to a Platypterygius australis — contained huge bite marks, missing pieces, and shattered bones that are consistent with attacks, or perhaps scavenging, from Kronosaurus queenslandicus, a giant predator that ruled the ancient seas in this area.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-desktop-1">

The fossil helped preserve a prehistoric food chain event that has rarely ever been seen.<br>“This discovery enriches our understanding of these ancient marine reptiles and illustrates the complex interactions that shaped their prehistoric aquatic environment. The public fossicking areas near Richmond have yielded thousands of fossils over the years, including dinosaurs, birds, turtles, polycotylid, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, pterosaurs and other marine reptiles,” White added.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-mobile-2">

Read More : This 245 Million-Year-Old Marine Reptile Still Has Most of Its Digestive Tract — One of the Oldest Ever Found<br>From Bag of Bones to Groundbreaking Discovery<br>This discovery comes in pieces — in multiple ways. Mike and Cathy Freeman, along with Gary and Barb Flewelling, first uncovered the fossil during a visit to a public fossicking site near Richmond in 2019. Unsure of what creature the fossils belonged to, the bones were collected in a bag and nicknamed “Bag of Bones” or B.O.B. It wasn’t until three years later that Kevin Petersen, a curator of Kronosaurus Korner, went back to the fossil site and discovered additional remains of the ichthyosaur.<br>Research and volunteer teams noticed that the odd rock nodules lay behind the skull. Not wanting to damage the fossil, the team used technology from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) to perform an advanced synchrotron CT scan on the nodules without damaging the fossil.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-desktop-2">

The scan revealed remains of squid-like cephalopods, fish, and the pterosaur’s jaw.<br>div]:relative" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-playwire-inbody-mobile-3">

“As research continues and methodologies advance, each fossil discovery, like this Platypterygius australis,...