 It was one of up to five independent acquisitions of molar-like teeth among ichthyosauriforms.In 2011, the only known specimen of "Cartorhynchus" was discovered in Bed 633 from the second level of the Majiashan Quarry near downtown Chaohu, Anhui Province, China; the rock strata in this quarry belong to the Upper Member of the Nanlinghu Formation.The specimen consists of a nearly-complete skeleton missing only part of the tail and some of the bones from the left part of the rear skull.