The mixosaurid ichthyosaur Phalarodon from the middle Triassic of China

A skeleton of a mixosaurid ichthyosaur from the Anisian Guanling Formation of Guizhou Province (southwestern China) is the first record of the genus Phalarodon from the People's Republic of China. Autapomorphies of Phalarodon clearly shown in the material are mesiodistally elongated, laterally compressed teeth of the posterior dentary region and very wide and blunt teeth of the maxilla which are longer than high, as well as a high sagittal crest. The specimen is the first record of the genus from the eastern Tethys and underlines the cosmopolitan distribution of this mixosaurid genus. Phalarodon is currently the most long-lived and widely distributed Triassic ichthyosaur genus. Reason for this might be its strongly heterodont dentition which allowed it to cope with a wider variety of food items than other ichthyosaurs, making Phalarodon a generalist feeder.