Finally! A marine reptile gets some time in the spotlight. Shonisaurus is the largest of any marine reptile yet discovered. There are two species within the genus: S. popularis and S. sikanniensis, the latter being the larger of the two at an estimated 69 feet (21 meters) in length. Shonisaurus belongs to the family Shastasauridae within the order Ichthyosauria, and its closest relatives include Besanosaurus and Shastasaurus.Shonisaurus lived during the Norian stage of the Upper Triassic, and has been found in Nevada, British Columbia, and possibly the Himalayas. It posesses several traits, such as relatively long and thin flippers, which seem to suggest that it does not belong to the main branch of the ichthyosaurian evolutionary tree, and instead belongs to a sort of offshoot from that group.
It posessed several conical teeth which existed only at the front of its mouth, and a rather large body for an ichthyosaur.
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