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Steam Reveals the Top-Selling and Most-Played Games of 2020

Steam has revealed its Best of 2020 lists, and while it doesn't rank the top games, they do give a glimpse as to what games earned the most gross revenue and had the most players. Steam's Best of 2020 lists include Top Sellers, New Releases, Most Played, Early Access Grads, Best of VR, and Controller Games and games like Cyberpunk 2077, Grand Theft Auto V, Destiny 2, Counter-Strike, and DOTA 2 appear in multiple categories. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/21/hades-igns-2020-game-of-the-year"] The Top Sellers category features Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers, but Steam doesn't detail what amount of gross revenue is needed to qualify for a certain level. The Platinum Top Sellers, in alphabetical order, are as follows;
  • Among Us
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Destiny 2
  • Doom Eternal
  • DOTA 2
  • Fall Guys
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
The top New Releases are also measured by gross revenue, but aren't broken down into any special categories besides the top games and by month. The best-selling New Releases are as follows;
  • Baldur's Gate 3
  • Borderlands 3
  • Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Death Stranding
  • Doom Eternal
  • Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
  • Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
  • FIFA 21
  • Football Manager 2021
  • Grounded
  • Half-Life: Alyx
  • Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
  • Mafia: Definitive Edition
  • Marvel's Avengers
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator
  • Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
  • Persona 4 Golden
  • Resident Evil 3
  • Sea of Thieves
  • Star Wars: Squadrons
  • Temtem
  • The Outer Worlds
  • Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-and-worst-reviewed-games-of-2020&captions=true"] The Most Played category is measured by highest peak concurrent players and the top tier includes games that reached over 200,000 peak players. The games that reached that milestone are as follows;
  • Among Us
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Destiny 2
  • DOTA 2
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Life Is Strange 2
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
  • Terraria
The Early Access Grads category is filled with games that left Early Access and found a ton of success. Hades - IGN's 2020 Game of the Year - was one of the ten games that made the Platinum tier. The full list, as measured by gross revenue, is as follows;
  • Deep Rock Galactic
  • DJMAX RESPECT V
  • Factorio
  • Golf With Your Friends
  • Hades
  • Noita
  • Risk of Rain 2
  • Skater XL
  • Torchlight 3
  • Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/04/the-best-pc-gifts-holiday-gift-guide-2020"] The Best of VR category is also split between Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze and is also measured by gross revenue. The full list is as follows;
  • Arizona Sunshine
  • Beat Saber
  • Blade & Sorcery
  • Boneworks
  • Half-Life: Alyx
  • Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
  • Pavlov VR
  • Pistol Whip
  • Superhot VR
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
  • The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
  • VR Kanojo
2020's top Controller Games are the top games that support... well... controllers. They are also split into Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze and are measured by daily active controller players. The full list is as follows;
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Dark Souls 3
  • Destiny 2
  • Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
  • Fall Guys
  • FIFA 21
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Hades
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • NBA 2K20
  • Persona 4 Golden
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-modern-pc-games-summer-2020-update&captions=true"] To see how Steam's top games compare to IGNs, check out all the winners from our Game of the Year Awards 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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Wrestler Jon Huber – aka WWE’s Luke Harper and AEW’s Brodie Lee – Passes Away

We've got some sad news to share with you this weekend as All Elite Wrestling posted a message on its social media accounts that wrestler Brodie Lee -- real name Jon Huber -- has died at age 41. Here is the post that went out regarding Huber's untimely passing... That statement reads: "The All Elite Wrestling family is heartbroken. In an industry filled with good people, Jon Huber was exceptionally respected and beloved in every way — a fierce and captivating talent, a thoughtful mentor and simply a very kind soul that starkly contradicted his persona as Brodie Lee. Jon’s love for his wife Amanda, and children Brodie and Norman, was evident to all of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with him, and we send our love and support to his beautiful family, today and always. Jon’s popularity among his peers and influence on the wrestling world was worldwide and transcended AEW, so this loss will be felt by many for a long time. We were privileged at AEW to call Jon Huber a brother, a friend and one of our own." Huber, who joined AEW just this past year after a multi-year stint in WWE as Luke Harper, a member of Bray Wyatt's Wyatt Family stable, was last seen on AEW TV in October when he lost the TNT Championship to Cody Rhodes. Here is Cody's tweet, remembering the man who friends knew as "Big Rig"... Huber's wife posted the following on Instagram, citing the cause of death as "a non Covid related lung issue." "I never wanted to write out those words. My heart is broken. The world saw him as the amazing @brodielee (fka Luke Harper) but he was my best friend, my husband, and the greatest father you would ever meet. No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now. He passed surrounded by love ones after a hard fought battle with a non Covid related lung issue. The @mayoclinic is literally the best team of doctors and nurses in the world who surrounded me with constant love." In WWE, Huber was a former Intercontinental Champion and a three-time former tag team champion. Many more from the wrestling world have passed along their love and condolences to the Huber family while remembering Jon as a one-of-a-kind man. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Posted in Uncategorized

Wrestler Jon Huber – aka WWE’s Luke Harper and AEW’s Brodie Lee – Passes Away

We've got some sad news to share with you this weekend as All Elite Wrestling posted a message on its social media accounts that wrestler Brodie Lee -- real name Jon Huber -- has died at age 41. Here is the post that went out regarding Huber's untimely passing... That statement reads: "The All Elite Wrestling family is heartbroken. In an industry filled with good people, Jon Huber was exceptionally respected and beloved in every way — a fierce and captivating talent, a thoughtful mentor and simply a very kind soul that starkly contradicted his persona as Brodie Lee. Jon’s love for his wife Amanda, and children Brodie and Norman, was evident to all of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with him, and we send our love and support to his beautiful family, today and always. Jon’s popularity among his peers and influence on the wrestling world was worldwide and transcended AEW, so this loss will be felt by many for a long time. We were privileged at AEW to call Jon Huber a brother, a friend and one of our own." Huber, who joined AEW just this past year after a multi-year stint in WWE as Luke Harper, a member of Bray Wyatt's Wyatt Family stable, was last seen on AEW TV in October when he lost the TNT Championship to Cody Rhodes. Here is Cody's tweet, remembering the man who friends knew as "Big Rig"... Huber's wife posted the following on Instagram, citing the cause of death as "a non Covid related lung issue." "I never wanted to write out those words. My heart is broken. The world saw him as the amazing @brodielee (fka Luke Harper) but he was my best friend, my husband, and the greatest father you would ever meet. No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now. He passed surrounded by love ones after a hard fought battle with a non Covid related lung issue. The @mayoclinic is literally the best team of doctors and nurses in the world who surrounded me with constant love." In WWE, Huber was a former Intercontinental Champion and a three-time former tag team champion. Many more from the wrestling world have passed along their love and condolences to the Huber family while remembering Jon as a one-of-a-kind man. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Posted in Uncategorized

Researchers May Have Ideas to How Mars Formed

A Mars lander may have detected clues to the formation of the red planet billions of years ago. According to Science Mag, researchers studying NASA's InSight spacecraft, which landed on the surface of Mars two years ago, have finally been able to detect some hints of boundaries in the rock, tens and hundreds of kilometers below the planet's crust, which they say is surprisingly thin. The team also found the mantle to be of a cooler temperature than expected despite the planet's molten iron core. These new discoveries about Mars' interior have led the team to believe that the planet once cooled itself through a kind of plate tectonics, following a pattern of "upwelling mantle rock and subducting crust" that resulted in Mars efficiently shedding heat. A scientist, who wasn't involved in the mission, said these findings may present evidence of "a far more dynamic crust formation in Mars' early days." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/08/21/the-martian-features-these-9-real-nasa-technologies-ign-news"] Ever since NASA's InSight craft alighted on Mars, the seismometers have been running nonstop to measure and record details of marsquakes to garner more information about the planet's internal composition and structure. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a quake larger than magnitude 4.5, which means the seismic waves haven't been travelling as deep below the surface as researchers would want. However, two moderate quakes, at magnitude 3.7 and 3.3, have been described as "treasure troves" for the mission. Science Mag notes that the waves from these quakes barrelled towards NASA's lander, which recorded travel times. The offsets hinted at the "thickness of the crust" and suggested "distinct layers within it," according to Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, a seismologist at the University of Cologne. InSight's data revealed that Mars could be made up of two or three layers, with the planet's crust appearing thinner than Earth's continental crust. Researchers calculated the outermost shell of the red planet to be just 20 or 37 kilometers thick, with a shallow layer beneath indicating a cooler mantle, encasing a liquid core of about 1800-kilometer radius (more than half the planet's total diameter). [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Over the coming months, the InSight team, led by Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator and geophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will continue its geological study of the red planet in an effort to record more accurate measurements from event detections and gain an even clearer picture of Mars' multi-layered interior. For other exciting space discoveries and developments, read about how NASA's Mars rover transported 10.9 million names to the red planet for a campaign, find out about the astronomers that discovered a new method to detect potentially habitable planets, and discover all of the details about the mini-moon that was found to be orbiting Earth earlier this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Posted in Uncategorized

Researchers May Have Ideas to How Mars Formed

A Mars lander may have detected clues to the formation of the red planet billions of years ago. According to Science Mag, researchers studying NASA's InSight spacecraft, which landed on the surface of Mars two years ago, have finally been able to detect some hints of boundaries in the rock, tens and hundreds of kilometers below the planet's crust, which they say is surprisingly thin. The team also found the mantle to be of a cooler temperature than expected despite the planet's molten iron core. These new discoveries about Mars' interior have led the team to believe that the planet once cooled itself through a kind of plate tectonics, following a pattern of "upwelling mantle rock and subducting crust" that resulted in Mars efficiently shedding heat. A scientist, who wasn't involved in the mission, said these findings may present evidence of "a far more dynamic crust formation in Mars' early days." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/08/21/the-martian-features-these-9-real-nasa-technologies-ign-news"] Ever since NASA's InSight craft alighted on Mars, the seismometers have been running nonstop to measure and record details of marsquakes to garner more information about the planet's internal composition and structure. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a quake larger than magnitude 4.5, which means the seismic waves haven't been travelling as deep below the surface as researchers would want. However, two moderate quakes, at magnitude 3.7 and 3.3, have been described as "treasure troves" for the mission. Science Mag notes that the waves from these quakes barrelled towards NASA's lander, which recorded travel times. The offsets hinted at the "thickness of the crust" and suggested "distinct layers within it," according to Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, a seismologist at the University of Cologne. InSight's data revealed that Mars could be made up of two or three layers, with the planet's crust appearing thinner than Earth's continental crust. Researchers calculated the outermost shell of the red planet to be just 20 or 37 kilometers thick, with a shallow layer beneath indicating a cooler mantle, encasing a liquid core of about 1800-kilometer radius (more than half the planet's total diameter). [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Over the coming months, the InSight team, led by Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator and geophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will continue its geological study of the red planet in an effort to record more accurate measurements from event detections and gain an even clearer picture of Mars' multi-layered interior. For other exciting space discoveries and developments, read about how NASA's Mars rover transported 10.9 million names to the red planet for a campaign, find out about the astronomers that discovered a new method to detect potentially habitable planets, and discover all of the details about the mini-moon that was found to be orbiting Earth earlier this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Posted in Uncategorized

Among Us, Chadwick Boseman Among Google’s Top Trending Searches of 2020

Google has released its annual list of global trending searches and it perfectly encapsulates the biggest moments of the year we can't wait to put behind us. Among some of the top searches were Chadwick Boseman, Among Us, and Tiger King. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-reviewed-games-of-2020&captions=true"] It's worth noting that Google compiled these lists based on the biggest year-over-year searches, or spikes, for each specific term. Put simply, these aren't necessarily the most-searched terms of the year, just the most popular as compared to last year. Gaming saw a big increase in 2020 as many needed to shelter-in-place, with record-breaking spending at the beginning of the year. Topping Google's list of top trending searches for gaming globally were Among Us and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which both saw incredible popularity due to their accessibility and multiplayer nature. Valorant, Genshin Impact, and The Last of Us Part 2 also populated the list. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/17/fall-guys-season-3-launch-trailer"] Fall Guys was a breakout success, becoming the most downloaded PlayStation Plus game of all-time when it launched in August. It dominated our Summer, had massive viewership across Twitch, and even had companies competing to include in-game skins. But Fall Guys wasn't the only multiplayer game that generated mass appeal. Among Us experienced a sudden surge in popularity despite being released in 2018. Among Us quickly shot up the charts on Twitch (as well as Steam and mobile) to become one of the biggest games of 2020. Everyone was playing Among Us, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who streamed it earlier this year in front of a massive audience of over 430,000 viewers. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/among-us-toppat-airship-map-reveal-trailer] On the entertainment side, Netflix dominated most of the conversation. Tiger King, Cobra Kai, Money Heist, and Umbrella Academy were among the top trending searches for TV shows, with Big Brother Brasil also making the cut, too. Tiger King was a moment in 2020. It was so popular, in fact, that Netflix is working on a spinoff starring Nicolas Cage in a new scripted docuseries. NBCUniversal is also working on a separate series starring SNL's Kate McKinnon depicting the rivalry between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-true-crime-shows-and-movies-to-watch-online&captions=true"] Parasite was the most-searched movie of 2020, after winning Best Picture and making history at the 2020 Academy Awards and director Bong-Joon Ho tying Walt Disney for most Oscar wins in a single ceremony. Other top trending movies included 1917, 365 Dni, and Contagion. 2018's Black Panther was also one of the top trending searches of the year, largely in part to the untimely passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, known best for playing T'Challa in the Marvel films. It was also recently revealed that Boseman will not be recast in the upcoming Black Panther 2. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] For more of 2020's best, check out IGN's Game of the Year Awards 2020 and our Best Movie, TV, and Comics of the Year Awards 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, Reviews, and Wikis writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.
Posted in Uncategorized

Among Us, Chadwick Boseman Among Google’s Top Trending Searches of 2020

Google has released its annual list of global trending searches and it perfectly encapsulates the biggest moments of the year we can't wait to put behind us. Among some of the top searches were Chadwick Boseman, Among Us, and Tiger King. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-reviewed-games-of-2020&captions=true"] It's worth noting that Google compiled these lists based on the biggest year-over-year searches, or spikes, for each specific term. Put simply, these aren't necessarily the most-searched terms of the year, just the most popular as compared to last year. Gaming saw a big increase in 2020 as many needed to shelter-in-place, with record-breaking spending at the beginning of the year. Topping Google's list of top trending searches for gaming globally were Among Us and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which both saw incredible popularity due to their accessibility and multiplayer nature. Valorant, Genshin Impact, and The Last of Us Part 2 also populated the list. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/17/fall-guys-season-3-launch-trailer"] Fall Guys was a breakout success, becoming the most downloaded PlayStation Plus game of all-time when it launched in August. It dominated our Summer, had massive viewership across Twitch, and even had companies competing to include in-game skins. But Fall Guys wasn't the only multiplayer game that generated mass appeal. Among Us experienced a sudden surge in popularity despite being released in 2018. Among Us quickly shot up the charts on Twitch (as well as Steam and mobile) to become one of the biggest games of 2020. Everyone was playing Among Us, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who streamed it earlier this year in front of a massive audience of over 430,000 viewers. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/among-us-toppat-airship-map-reveal-trailer] On the entertainment side, Netflix dominated most of the conversation. Tiger King, Cobra Kai, Money Heist, and Umbrella Academy were among the top trending searches for TV shows, with Big Brother Brasil also making the cut, too. Tiger King was a moment in 2020. It was so popular, in fact, that Netflix is working on a spinoff starring Nicolas Cage in a new scripted docuseries. NBCUniversal is also working on a separate series starring SNL's Kate McKinnon depicting the rivalry between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-true-crime-shows-and-movies-to-watch-online&captions=true"] Parasite was the most-searched movie of 2020, after winning Best Picture and making history at the 2020 Academy Awards and director Bong-Joon Ho tying Walt Disney for most Oscar wins in a single ceremony. Other top trending movies included 1917, 365 Dni, and Contagion. 2018's Black Panther was also one of the top trending searches of the year, largely in part to the untimely passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, known best for playing T'Challa in the Marvel films. It was also recently revealed that Boseman will not be recast in the upcoming Black Panther 2. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] For more of 2020's best, check out IGN's Game of the Year Awards 2020 and our Best Movie, TV, and Comics of the Year Awards 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, Reviews, and Wikis writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.
Posted in Uncategorized

Nintendo Switch eShop Appears to Be Back Up After Christmas Down Time

Update (12/26/20) - Nintendo's Network Status page is no longer reporting any issues with users connecting to the Nintendo Switch eShop and says that "All servers are operating normally." [poilib element="accentDivider"] If you just received a new Nintendo Switch for the holidays and can't connect to the eShop to download new games, you aren't alone. Nintendo has announced that it is "aware that players are experiencing errors accessing Nintendo eShop, and are working to address the issue as soon as possible." Nintendo took to Twitter to give the news and also said "Thank you for your understanding, and please see our Network Status page for the latest updates." You can click here to check the status of the Nintendo eShop, and we will update this article when services appear to be working again. Screenshot_2020-12-25 Nintendo of America on Twitter As of this writing, when you go to Nintendo's Network Maintenance Information page, it has a notice that players could be receiving when trying to access the eShop that says, "Unable to connect to the network service. Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Considering today is Christmas, the cause of these network issues could very well be the many new Nintendo Switch consoles that were opened today or those with gift cards trying to purchase new games. As previously mentioned, we will update this article as soon as we hear the problems are fixed. Until then, be sure to check out our list of the top 25 Switch games to give you an idea what you can play this holiday season and beyond. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/24/the-best-nintendo-switch-games-fall-2020-update"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Posted in Uncategorized

Nintendo Switch eShop Appears to Be Back Up After Christmas Down Time

Update (12/26/20) - Nintendo's Network Status page is no longer reporting any issues with users connecting to the Nintendo Switch eShop and says that "All servers are operating normally." [poilib element="accentDivider"] If you just received a new Nintendo Switch for the holidays and can't connect to the eShop to download new games, you aren't alone. Nintendo has announced that it is "aware that players are experiencing errors accessing Nintendo eShop, and are working to address the issue as soon as possible." Nintendo took to Twitter to give the news and also said "Thank you for your understanding, and please see our Network Status page for the latest updates." You can click here to check the status of the Nintendo eShop, and we will update this article when services appear to be working again. Screenshot_2020-12-25 Nintendo of America on Twitter As of this writing, when you go to Nintendo's Network Maintenance Information page, it has a notice that players could be receiving when trying to access the eShop that says, "Unable to connect to the network service. Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Considering today is Christmas, the cause of these network issues could very well be the many new Nintendo Switch consoles that were opened today or those with gift cards trying to purchase new games. As previously mentioned, we will update this article as soon as we hear the problems are fixed. Until then, be sure to check out our list of the top 25 Switch games to give you an idea what you can play this holiday season and beyond. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/24/the-best-nintendo-switch-games-fall-2020-update"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Posted in Uncategorized

A New Species Dubbed the Prehistoric ‘Sea Dragon’ Discovered in English Channel

A new, mysterious small marine reptile from 150 million years ago, known as the Thalassodraco etchesi or Etches sea dragon, was recently discovered in a Late Jurassic deep marine deposit along the English Channel coastline in Dorset, England. As reported by SciTech Daily, this species may have been able to dive to extreme depths, and was determined to be part of the group known as the ichthyosaurs, which are "streamlined marine predators from the Late Jurassic period." “This ichthyosaur has several differences that makes it unique enough to be its own genus and species,” paleontologist Megan L. Jacobs said. “New Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs in the United Kingdom are extremely rare, as these creatures have been studied for 200 years. We knew it was new almost instantly, but it took about a year to make thorough comparisons with all other Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs to make certain our instincts were correct. It was very exciting to not be able to find a match.” [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Illustration of Thalassodraco etchesi. Credit: Megan Jacobs[/caption] This specific specimen was discovered in 2009 and was estimated to have been about 6 feet long. It was discovered by fossil collector Steve Etches MBE after a "cliff crumbled along the seaside." It appears to have some similarities to sperm whales with its "extremely deep rib cage" that may have allowed for larger lungs and space so internal organs weren't crushed under the pressure. It also had large eyes, which meant it could have been able to see well in low light. Its hundreds of tiny teeth seem to indicate a diet that may have consisted of squid and small fish, and "the teeth are unique by being completely smooth." [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Photo of the sea dragon (Thalassodraco etches) fossil (MJML K1885). Credit: The Etches Collection, Dorset, UK[/caption] “They still had to breathe air at the surface and didn’t have scales,” Jacobs said. “There is hardly anything actually known about the biology of these animals. We can only make assumptions from the fossils we have, but there’s nothing like it around today. Eventually, to adapt to being fully aquatic, they no longer could go up onto land to lay eggs, so they evolved into bearing live young, tail first. There have been skeletons found with babies within the mother and also ones that were actually being born.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Posted in Uncategorized
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