Discover the mystery of this prehistoric marine monster

How could he survive at sea if his kidneys couldn’t process salt?

In 2016, the remains of a new species were discovered, which was baptized with the name of Ichthyosaurus Larkini, who lived about two hundred million years ago, during the Jurassic. It is a type of reptile that was originally terrestrial, worse than it gradually adapted to the terrestrial environment. Their appearance could resemble that of the current dolphins, but they were fierce predators that could measure up to 15metros long.
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When they hunted their prey in the sea, the specimens of the Ichthyosaurus Larkini swallowed large amounts of saltwater. Studies of the fossil remains found have revealed that the size of the kidneys of these creatures was too small to process and eliminate all that amount of salt. How did they manage to survive at sea?

The answer to this riddle has been found by a researcher at the Earth Sciences Department at TheCollege, in new York state. When examining the skull of one of these animals discovered in the bones of the external nose the remains of a strange structure that could be glands to sift the salt.

Many marine animals, including sharks, have these glands. In the chaos of the ones are located in the rectum. Thanks to them you can remove the excess salt that the animal ingests. But, to date, there was no evidence that prehistoric reptiles like the Ichthyosaurus Larkini also possessed them.