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The new species is called Cymbospondylus youngorum, and its well-preserved fossil skull of two meter in length proves that this was the first ocean giant. The species lived in what is today's Nevada 246 million years ago, in the early Middle Triassic. This is surprisingly early in the evolution of ichthyosaurs, which are believed to have evolved from small terrestrial ancestors in the wake of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. The scientists compared the body size evolution of ichthyosaurs to their modern day counterparts, the whales, and found that whales uses a much larger proportion of their evolutionary history to evolve giant body sizes.
The article can be found here: Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans (science.org)
CBA coordinator Lene Liebe Delsett wrote the Science perspective accompanying the new study published December 24th together with Smithsonian Institution marine mammal curator Nick Pyenson. Read it here, or contact Dr. Delsett for an electronic copy: Early and fast rise of Mesozoic ocean giants (science.org)