Ichthyosaurus. Ichthyosaurs (from the Greek fish... Lot 6
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Ichthyosaurus. Ichthyosaurs (from the Greek fish - lizard) have a morphology, close to that of the dolphin. They are the true marine cousins of the dinosaurs and they were certainly the most adapted reptiles to aquatic life of all times. However, they had to come to the surface of the water to breathe because they had lungs and not gills. Ichthyosaurs appeared 250 million years ago, slightly before the dinosaurs (230 Ma): they lived during a large part of the Mesozoic era, were particularly abundant during the Jurassic period and disappeared 90 Ma ago, 25 Ma before the mass extinction of the majority of the dinosaurs, perhaps because of competition from other marine predatory lineages such as the pliosaurs and mosasaurs that would have replaced them in the Cretaceous. On this particularly well preserved specimen, 95% of the bones are original, which is exceptional for a vertebrate fossil. All the bones were originally fossilized on a slab of shale, most of them disarticulated by the sea currents before the specimen was buried on the sea floor. They were extracted one by one and then repositioned in three dimensions according to the original anatomy to recover the volume of the skull and the global morphology of the animal. Ichthyosaur skeletons allowing this kind of preparation remain almost unique in the world. The preparation of this specimen required more than eight months. The base is made of brushed brass, and the slate extracted from the geological layers where the specimen was found. This very aesthetic piece makes it a beautiful decorative element and in view of its rarity and its quality of preservation, it could figure among the collections of the greatest museums of paleontology. Half skeleton of Ichthyosaurus Stenopterygius quadriscissus. Dating from the Lower Jurassic (Lias), Toarcian, Schist-Carton formation (180 Million years) Sedimentation of clays and organic matter in anoxic marine environment. Coming from the region of LORRAINE, department of Meurthe et Moselle (54), near the village of Vandières (54121) Measuring 75cm long, 50 cm wide, 50 cm high. Sale on designation
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