List of ichthyosauromorph genera

This list of ichthyosauromorphs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the clade Ichthyosauromorpha, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered ichthyopterygian. Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygians shall be noted as such. This list contains 114 genera.

Scope and terminology

There is no official, canonical list of ichthyosauromorph genera but one of the most thorough attempts can be found at the "Ichthyosauromorpha" section of Mikko Haaramo's Phylogeny Archive.^[1]

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:

Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously published name. If two or more genera are formally designated and the type specimens are later assigned to the same genus, the first to be published (in chronological order) is the senior synonym, and all other instances are junior synonyms. Senior synonyms are generally used, except by special decision of the ICZN, but junior synonyms cannot be used again, even if deprecated. Junior synonymy is often subjective, unless the genera described were both based on the same type specimen.
Nomen nudum (Latin for "naked name"): A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the ICZN. Nomina nuda (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be. If the name is later formally published, that name is no longer a nomen nudum and will be italicized on this list. Often, the formally published name will differ from any nomina nuda that describe the same specimen. In this case, these nomina nuda will be deleted from this list in favor of the published name.
Preoccupied name: A name that is formally published, but which has already been used for another taxon. This second use is invalid (as are all subsequent uses) and the name must be replaced. As preoccupied names are not valid generic names, they will also go unitalicized on this list.
Nomen dubium (Latin for "dubious name"): A name describing a fossil with no unique diagnostic features. As this can be an extremely subjective and controversial designation, this term is not used on this list.

The list

Genus	Authors	Year	Status	Age	Location	Notes
Acamptonectes^[2]	Fischer et al.	2012	Valid	eK^[2] to lK^[2]	Europe^[2]
Actiosaurus	Sauvage	1883	Disputed		Europe
Acuetzpalin^[3]	Barrientos et al.	2020	Valid	lJ^[3]	North America^[3]
Aegirosaurus^[4]	Bardet Fernández	2000	Valid	lJ^[4]	Europe^[4]	A 2 meter long^[4] ophthalmosaurid^[5] whose remains were discovered in the Solnhofen limestone and mistaken for a new Ichthyosaurus species. In 2000 scientists concluded that the fossil material should be assigned to a new genus.
Anhuisaurus^[1]	Chen	1985	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Preoccupied by lizard genus Anhuisaurus Hou, 1974. Junior synonym of Chaohusaurus.
Argovisaurus^[6]	Miedema et al.	2024	Valid	mJ	Europe	May have preserved traumatic injuries based on abnormalities in its skeleton
Arthropterygius	Maxwell	2010	Valid	lJ	North America
Athabascasaurus	Druckenmiller Maxwell	2010	Valid	eK	North America
Auroroborealia^[7]	Zvernikov et al.	2021	Valid	lT	Asia
Baisesaurus^[8]	Ren et al.	2022	Valid	eT	Asia	A basal ichthyosauromorph of uncertain affinities
Barracudasauroides	Maisch	2010	Valid	mT	Asia
Besanosaurus^[9]	Dal Sasso Pinna	1996	Valid	mT^[9]	Europe^[9]
Brachypterygius^[10]^[11]	von Huene	1922	Valid	lJ^[10]	Europe^[12]^[13]	A lJ Ophthalmosaurid closely related to Platypterygius and Caypullisaurus.^[5] Fossils have been found in England and European Russia.^[12]^[13]
Californosaurus^[10]^[14]	Kuhn	1934	Valid	lT^[10]	N. America	A 3-meter teretocnemid who is also the basal-most known Euichthyosaurian. Its remains were first recovered from the Carnian Lower Hosselkus Limestone of California. Californosaurus has also been known as Shastasaurus perrini and Delphinosaurus perrini.
Callawayia^[15]	Maische Matzke	2000	Valid
Cartorhynchus^[16]	Motani et al.	2015	Valid	eT	Asia	Non-ichthyosaur ichthyosauriform
Catutosaurus^[17]	Fernández et al.	2021	Valid	lJ	South America
Caypullisaurus^[10]^[11]	Fernández	1997	Valid	lJ^[10] to eK^{[citation needed]}	S. America	A large ophthalmosaurid closely related to Platypterygius and Brachypterygius.^[5] It was discovered in strata dating to the lJ - eK of Argentina.
Chacaicosaurus^[14]	Fernández	1994	Valid		S. America^[13]	A Bajocian genus whose fossils have been found in Argentina.^[13] Possibly a stenopterygiid.
Chaohusaurus^[1]^[10]	Young Dong	1972	Valid	eT^[10]	Asia	A primitive ichthyosaur that retained a lizard-like body discovered in Chaohu, China. It was also one of the smallest ichthyosaurs, being from 70 to 180 cm long and an estimated weight of 10 kg.
Chensaurus^[1]^[10]	Mazin Suteethorn Buffetaut Jaeger Helmcke-Ingavat	1991	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Chaohusaurus.
Chonespondylus^[10]	Leidy	1868	Valid	mT^[10]
Contectopalatus^[18]	Maische Matzke	1998	Disputed	mT^[18]	Europe^[18]	A strange mT mixosaurid with a high crest of bone on its head and a 5-meter body. It was thought to be a Mixosaurus species for some time until given its own genus in 1998. Some experts have felt that the splitting was unjustified.
Cryopterygius^[19]	Druckenmiller et al.	2012^[19]	Valid	lJ^[19]	Europe^[19]
Cymbospondylus^[10]^[15]	Leidy	1868	Valid	eT^[10] to mT^[10]		One of the largest ichthyosaurs, adults ranged in length from 6 m (20 ft) up to 10 m (33 ft) long. It was one of the least fish-like of the ichthyosaurs, lacking a dorsal fin and fluked tail. Consequently, Cymbospondylus probably swam by wriggling its body from side to side like a modern sea snake.
Dearcmhara^[20]	Brusatte et al.	2015	Valid	eJ to mJ	Europe
Delphinosaurus^[10]	Merriam	1905	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Californosaurus.
Eretmorhipis^[21]	Chen et al.	2015	Valid	eT	Asia	Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian
Eurhinosaurus^[10]^[14]	Abel	1909	Valid	eJ^[10]	Europe	A genus exceeding 6 m in length^[13] from the Sinemurian to Toarcian of England and Germany. Eurhinosaurus was built like a regular ichthyosaur, with a fish-like body including a large eyes, dorsal and caudal fins, but had one distinct feature that set it apart from other ichthyosaurs; its upper jaw was twice as long as the lower jaw and covered with sidewards-pointing 'teeth', like a sawfish's.
Eurypterygius	Jaekel	1904	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Ichthyosaurus.
Excalibosaurus	McGowan	1986	Valid	eJ^[10]		Lived during the Sinemurian stage in what is now England. It is characterized by the extreme elongation of the rostrum, giving the animal a swordfish-like look. Excalibosaurus is known from two skeletons. The holotype was from a juvenile with an estimated body length of 4 m. The estimated body length of the second specimen, discovered in 1996, is 7 m.
Fernatator^[22]	Massare et al.	2025	Valid	eJ	North America	The most complete ichthyosaur known from the Early Jurassic of North America
Gadusaurus^[23]	Pratas e Souza et al.	2025	Valid	eJ	Europe	Although the majority of the cranial sutures are completely fused, which is often seen in adult ichthyosaurs, the midline suture is not fused, which would mean the holotype belonged to either a juvenile or subadult individual
Gengasaurus	Paparella et al.	In press	In press	lJ	Europe
Grendelius^[10]	McGowan	1976	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Brachypterygius.
Grippia^[1]^[10]	Wiman	1930	Valid	eT^[10]	Asia Greenland Japan N. America	A small ichthyosaur only 1-1.5 m long, its fossils have been found along the coasts of Greenland, China, Japan, and Canada.
Guizhouichthyosaurus	Cao Luo	2000	Valid	lT	Asia
Gulosaurus^[24]	Cuthbertson et al.	2013	Valid	eT^[24]	N. America^[24]	A grippidian. The type species is Gulosaurus helmi.^[24]
Hauffiopteryx	Maisch	2008	Valid	eJ	Europe
Himalayasaurus	Young Dong	1972	Valid	lT	Asia
Hudsonelpidia	McGowan	1995	Valid	lT^[10]
Hupehsuchus^[1]	Carroll Dong	1991	Valid	mT	Asia	Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian from the mT of China. The type species is H. nanchangensis.
Ichthyosaurus^[10]^[14]	De la Beche Conybeare	1821	Valid	eJ^[10]
Ichthyotitan^[25]	Lomax et al.	2024	Valid	lT	Europe	The largest ichthyosaur and marine reptile currently known
Isfjordosaurus	Motani	1999	Valid			Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian.
Jabalisaurus^[26]	Barrientos-Lara et al.	2021	Valid	lJ	North America
Janusaurus^[27]	Roberts et al.	2014	Valid	lJ^[27]	Europe^[27]	An ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. The type species is Janusaurus lundi.^[27]
Kazakhstanosaurus^[28]	Bolatovna Makustovich	2021	Valid	lJ	Asia
Keilhauia^[29]	Delsett et al.	2017	Valid	eK	Europe	An ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. The type species is Keilhauia nui.
Kyhytysuka^[30]	Cortés et al.	2021	Valid	eK	South America
Leninia^[31]	Fischer et al.	2014	Valid	eK^[31]	Europe^[31]	An ophthalmosaurine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. The type species is Leninia stellans.^[31]
Leptocheirus	Merriam	1903	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Toretocnemus.
Leptonectes	McGowan	1996	Valid		Europe^[13]	Lived from the Rhaetian to Pliensbachian in what is now Belgium, England and Germany.^[13]
Leptopterygius	Huene	1922	Valid	lT^[10] to eJ^[10]
Macgowania	Motani	1999	Valid
Macropterygius	Huene	1923	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Aegirosaurus.
Magnipterygius^[32]	Maisch Matzke	2022	Valid	eJ	Europe
Maiaspondylus^[11]	Maxwell Caldwell	2006	Valid	lK^[11]	N. America^[11]
Malawania^[33]	Fischer et al.	2013	Valid	eK^[33]	Asia^[33]	A basal member of Thunnosauria. The type species is Malawania anachronus.^[33]
Merriamia^[10]	Boulenger	1904	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Toretocnemus.
Metashastasaurus	Nicholls Manabe	2001	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Callawayia.
Mikadocephalus^[15]^[34]	Maisch Matzke	1998	Valid		Europe^[34]
Mixosaurus^[10]^[15]	Baur	1887	Valid	mT^[10]
Mollesaurus	Fernandez	1999	Valid	mJ	S. America
Myopterygius	von Huene	1922	Syn.			Synonym of Platypterygius.
Muiscasaurus	Maxwell Dick Padilla Parra	2015	Valid	eK	S. America
Nanchangosaurus	Wang	1959	Valid	mT^[10]
Nannopterygius	Huene	1922	Valid	lJ^[10]	Europe	Nannopterygius is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that lived in from the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian. Fossils have been found in England and Germany.^[13]
Omphalosaurus	Merriam	1906	Valid	eT	Europe	An extinct genus of marine reptile from Spitsbergen. It has been considered an ichthyopterygian, however a study by Motani in 2000 showed that it lacks the basal synapomorphies of Ichthyopterygia. As such, its exact position in the diapsid tree is currently unknown.
Ophthalmosaurus^[11]	Seeley	1874	Valid	mJ^[10] to lJ^[10]	Europe^{[citation needed]} N. America^{[citation needed]} S. America^[11]
Otschevia	Efimov	1997	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Brachypterygius.
Pachygonosaurus	von Huene	1916	Nomen dubium
Palvennia ^[19]	Druckenmiller et al.	2012	Valid	lJ^[19]	Europe^[19]
Panjiangsaurus	Chen Chang	2003	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Guizhouichthyosaurus.^[35]^[36]
Parahupehsuchus	Chen et al.	2014	Valid	eT	Asia
Paraophthalmosaurus	Arkhangelsky	1997	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Ophthalmosaurus.
Parrassaurus^[37]	Barrientos-Lara Alvarado-Ortega	2021	Valid	lJ	North America
Parvinatator	Nicholls Brinkman	1995	Valid			Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian.
Pessopteryx	Wiman	1910	Valid
Pessosaurus	Wiman	1910	Valid	mT^[10]
Phalarodon	Merriam	1910	Valid	mT^[10]	Asia^[38]
Phantomosaurus^[10]	Maisch Matzke	2000	Valid
Platypterygius	Kuhn	1946	Valid	lK^[10]
Plutoniosaurus	Efimov	1997	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Platypterygius.
Proteosaurus	Home	1819	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Ichthyosaurus.
Protoichthyosaurus	Appleby	1979	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Ichthyosaurus.
Qianichthyosaurus	Li	1999	Valid
Quasianosteosaurus	Maisch Matzke	2003	Valid	eT	Europe
Sangiorgiosaurus	Brinkmann	1998	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Junior synonym of Mixosaurus.
Sclerocormus	Jiang et al.	2016	Valid	eT	Asia	Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian.
Shastasaurus	Merriam	1895	Valid	mT^[35] to lT^[10]	Asia Europe N. America	Shastasaurus is a genus of ichthyosaur from whose remains have been found in United States, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Spitsbergen and China.^[35]
Shonisaurus	Camp	1976	Valid	lT^[10]	?Asia N. America	One of the largest ichthyosaur genera that has yet been found. Fossils of Shonisaurus were first found in Nevada in 1920. It lived during the Norian stage of the late Triassic period and had a long pointed mouth that contained teeth only at the front end. S. popularis specimens reached a length of 15 meters (49 feet). A second species, S. sikanniensis, was later discovered in British Columbia and has an estimated length of 21 meters (69 feet).
Simbirskia	Otschev Efimov	1985	Valid
Simbirskiasaurus	Otschev Efimov	1985	Valid	eK^[10]
Sisteronia^[39]	Fischer et al.	2014	Valid	eK ^[39]	Europe ^[39]	A platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. The type species is Sisteronia seeleyi. ^[39]
Stenopterygius	Jaekel	1904	Valid	eJ^[10]	Europe	Lived from the Toarcian to Aalenian from England, France, Germany and Luxembourg. Maximum length was 4 m.^[13] One famous fossil is that of a mother and baby that died in childbirth. This proved that ichthyosaur infants were born tail-first, just like cetaceans, to prevent them from drowning before fully clearing the birth canal.
Suevoleviathan	Maisch	1998	Valid
Sumpalla^[40]	Campos et al.	2021	Valid	lJ	South America
Svalbardosaurus	Mazin	1981	Nomen dubium^[1]	eT^[10]
Sveltonectes	Fischer Masure Arkhangelsky Godefroit	2011	Valid	eK	Europe
Temnodontosaurus	Lydekker	1889	Valid	eJ^[10]	Europe	Lived from the Hettangian to Toarcian in England and Germany. It was a large genus, exceeded 12 meters (39 feet) in length.^[13] Temnodontosaurus eyes were approximately 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter making them the largest of any known vertebrate^{[citation needed]}.
Thaisaurus	Mazin Sutetthorn Buffetaut Jaeger Helmcke-Ignavat	1991	Valid			Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian.
Thalassodraco^[41]	Jacobs Martill	2020	Valid	mJ	Europe
Thalattoarchon^[42]	Fröbisch et al.	2013	Valid	mT^[42]	North America^[42]
Tholodus	von Meyer	1851	Valid	mT	Possibly Asia Europe
Toretocnemus	Merriam	1902	Valid	lT^[10]
Typicusichthyosaurus	Yin et al.	2000	Jr. synonym	N/A	N/A	Probable junior synonym of Guanlingsaurus, though poor preservation makes it difficult to tell^[43]^[44]
Undorosaurus	Efimov	1997	Valid	lJ	Russia
Utatsusaurus^[1]^[10]	Shikoma	1978	Valid	eT^[10]		Non-ichthyosaur ichthyopterygian.
Wahlisaurus	Lomax	2016	Valid	eJ	Europe
Wimanius	Maisch Matzke	1988	Valid
Xinminosaurus	Jiang et al	2008	Valid			Possible synonym of Tholodus.
Yasykovia	Efimov	1999	Valid	lJ	Russia	Formerly known as a synonym of Ophthalmosaurus.