Grippia

Grippia is an Ichthyosaur from early Triassic Greenland, China, Japan, and Canada.The best specimen of Grippia was destroyed in World War II,‭ ‬so today we have only this description and other less complete specimens left to study.‭ ‬This makes the key question about what this‭ early‭ ‬ichthyosaur ate very difficult to answer.‭ ‬Early ideas had Grippia down as a predator of armoured prey like shellfish,‭ ‬but later study has revealed that the teeth are not especially suited for these kinds of animals.‭ ‬Instead the wider consensus is that Grippia was a generalist that did not rely upon a single kind of prey animal for food. Grippia longirostris fossils were once thought to come Spitsbergen,‭ ‬the main island of Svalbard,‭ ‬but these remains are now actually thought to have belonged to Helveticosaurus,‭ ‬which itself was once thought to be a placodont.