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Showing results for tags 'ichthyosaur'.
Found 209 results
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Hi all! I was finally able to visit the Volga site thanks to a water level/ good weather window. The journey was mostly a success, I got a better understanding of the site, used new means of transportation and examined more of the shoreline. Among the finds were two dozens of marine reptile verts and bone fragments and LOTS of ammonites and other mollusks. Unfortunately the river level was not low enough, 1m higher than during my 1st trip, 0,5m lower than in the 2nd. But it was at least possible to walk the shore. There's still a lot more to do, but now I have a pretty clear idea how to maximize the hunt results for the next trip. The report will be picture-heavy and divided into several blocks I'll be adding in the next few days. Let's start with the scenery.
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Hey everyone, I recently acquired this ichthyosaur vertebra that was originally collected in Penarth, south Wales, UK. What initially struck me was the vertebra's size, since it's by far the biggest one I have of any ichthyosaur: Now, other large ichthyosaur remains have been described from the very same location. The paper is freely available here: https://bioone.org/journals/acta-palaeontologica-polonica/volume-60/issue-4/app.00062.2014/A-Mysterious-Giant-Ichthyosaur-from-the-Lowermost-Jurassic-of-Wales/10.4202/app.00062.2014.full The cliffs at Penarth apparently contain multiple exposures of different formations, which can make assigning isolated remains from there to any one time period problematic. The authors tentatively date the bone described in the paper to the lowermost Jurassic based on attached matrix and microfossils it contains. Finding references for the sediment of each formation from this locality is tough, but the matrix on my vertebra resembles that in the paper at least superficially. I have tried contacting Dr. Peggy Vincent, a co-author of the study who works on Jurassic marine reptiles from Europe, but sadly no luck thus far. My questions are: - Are there any features that might help date this fossil to a certain time period, or identify the formation it originated from? - The authors of the study assign their fossil to Shastasauridae - are there any features that can identify this vertebra on a family level? Thank you for your help!
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Ichthyosaur fossil plate
Mousehead posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
This looks authentic to me but I wanted to be sure. The fossils in the background of these photos kind of raised some red flags for me, especially the air holes in the trilobite mortality plate on the left. Ichthyosaur bones on a fossil plate, origin is listed as Posidonia Shale Formation, Holzmaden, Germany. Thanks friends! -
Just found this at the base of a scree slope somewhere between Runswick Bay and Sandsend (too excited to wait until I’m home to take pictures with a ruler, sorry ) Pretty sure it looks like bone of some sort; can anyone confirm this and maybe identify it? Thanks for looking
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I thought some of you may find this interesting. This is an Ichthyosaur paddle digit that looks like there could be a tooth hole in the middle. This could have happened during life or after it had died and then been scavenged on the seabed. Of course there could be another explanation that it has been crushed during fossilisation, but this doesnt look like the usual crushed type specimins i’ve found. Wondered what your thoughts are? Found in Whitby, Yorkshire. Normal looking side Bitten? Side
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Just found this on a morning stroll on a beach near Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK. Thought at best it may be a piece of reptile bone, maybe a piece of wood if not. Saw some nice plant material too, we were going to pick the larger pieces up on our return trip but the incoming tide made us decide against it. Thanks for looking
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Another unknown piece, but at least with some information on its locale - Lavernock, Wales, UK. I believe it to be either Ichthyosaur or Plesiosaur but I'm afraid I don't currently have an idea what it is. I'd appreciate any input. Thank you, John
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I bought this ichthyosaur vertebrae several years ago. The website write that the vertebrae is from Brachypterygius. Do you know if it is true? AGE Middle Jurassic LOCATION Weymouth Harbour, Dorest, England FORMATION Kimmeridge Clay SIZE 3.2" wide, 1.2" tall
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Hey all, I'll jump right into some details about this recent rock/fossil find. Backstory: Taking a quick break from driving and stopped along a shale riverbank (I'll include pics) to look at potential fishing spots and to flip some floating shale for signs of fossils. My subconscious picks out this rather rough "puck" shaped specimen and screams to me "Pick it up!" First thought, column vertebrae of some kind. The reason my eye caught this rock was it's round shape against all the sharp edges of shale that is was loosely lying in. Location: North Eastern BC, Tumbler Ridge, Wapiti River. (This area is known for fossil fishes and ichthyosaur) Discovery Strata: Semi loose, weathered riverbed shale. Fossil/Rock geology: Sandy sediment like. Maybe siltstone. Although hard, my pick won't touch it like it will shale. Other notes: The only round piece of geology in the find area, looked too out of place to dismiss. Notably heavier than any rock or shale of similar size. VERY rough/course on the skin/fingertips. Salty taste/sticks to tongue. Not far from other documented Elasmobrachii finds. Almost exactly 2inches in diameter, 0.8inches think, with one plane being flat while the other has a worn groove. I don't know how to post multiple pictures in on post so I'll post one, and link the rest to my Google photos album! Google Photos album Link Thanks in advance!
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Hi all! Following the first topic I'll show you another fossil layer in that same location, Epivirgatites nikitini ammonite zone. It's the lowest of the three layers in Fili Park, relates to the middle Tithonian (Volgian, upper Jurassic) and is known for big ammonites and vertebrate remains. It's the last remaining accessible site in the region where you can count on finding Jurassic vertebrates. The finds are stable, but small, scarce and involve sifting.
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My 9 year old daughter’s collection had outgrown the old shelves so we took a trip to Ikea today to get something more suitable. Though I don’t think it’ll be long before this one is full too... From top to bottom; ‘Ice Age’ A mammoth tooth, couple of mammoth ribs and a few other bits Purchases A few things we’ve bought, including some fish, a nice display of pecten and a few teeth (plesiosaur, mosasaur, spino) North Yorkshire finds The best of our finds on the coast (excluding ammonites) including a lot of belemnites, bivalves and a couple of ichthyosaur verts Other purchases A potamon and a pea crab, a few trilobites and other bits and pieces Ammonites Nearly all found ourselves on the coast but a couple of purchases too. Local river finds Some rugose coral, crinoids, stigmaria and a few brachiopods Hoping to add plenty of interesting new fossils with a week on the Jurassic Coast in August
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I visted Aust Cliff on the River Severn, Gloucestershire UK back in Feburary and managed to find a large block of the 'Rhaetic Bone Bed' . Lots of bone fragments, fish teeth, even a shark fin spine! But my best finds are a paddle bone and large tooth. (Still got plenty more rock pieces to break open and search for more, so a long term project...) However i would like to I.D this Ichthyosaur in particular. Does anyone know about the early ichthyosaurs from the late Triassic? Age: 208 - 201mya (Late Triassic: Rhaetian) - Aust Cliff Paddle bone - humerus? Tooth (broken off tip sadly):
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Hello, new to posting on the forum and fairly new to fossil hunting. Found these very nice marine reptile vertabrae near Osmington Mills, Dorset. All found close together washed out of the Kimmeridgian Clay I think... Age: Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian? 163 - 152mya (both rock types there but I believe the clay cliffs above the beach are Kimmeridgian. Can anyone confirm I have 2 different types (Plesiosaur & Ichthyosaur)? Also any guesses at what species they are likely to be or is it not possible to narrow down from a more generic Ichthyosaurus sp./ Plesiosaurus sp. ? The "Plesiosaur" Vertebra, more chunky and flatter with pits on side. (Could this be a type of Pliosaur like Liopleurodon or Pliosaurus sp. ?)
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Hi all, Bought this tooth online a while back. It was sold to me as "Ichthyosaurus platyodon" (which I understand to mean Temnodontosaurus platyodon) from Lyme Regis. Likely found by the seller themselves, as I know they occasionally collect fossils there. However, for the following reasons, I'm not sure about this attribution: Overall, the tooth doesn't look like your typical ichthyosaur tooth to me: It has more of an oval rather than round cross-section It's labolingually flattened Messial and distal carinae run the full length of the crown and divide the tooth into labial and lingual parts While fine striations can be seen on one side of the tooth (presumably the lingual side), the other side (which would be the labial) seems entirely smooth - though some traces of rare striations can be seen on the photographs The striations are much more similar to those of crocodile or pliosaur teeth than to the plicidentine condition so typical of ichthyosaurs The horizontal banding on the tooth surface is unfamiliar to me with respect to most marine reptile teeth I have seen, but occurs much more frequently on crocodile teeth of various species I also bought another tooth with the same attribution from the seller, more or less around the same time. This one has no striations whatsoever, has a more rounded base, is less flattened and has a more rounded tip. It also has carinae. I therefore reclassified it as a probable Goniopholis sp. crocodile tooth. Now I know that not having the root makes it more difficult to identify this particular specimen, but I was hoping someone on this forum might be able to help me, as currently it goes without label. I've considered crocodile, plesiosaur and even pliosaur, but all of these have some reservations that prevent final classification. For one, none of these groups have teeth that are typically flattened like this, nor do plesiosaurs (sensu lato, thus including pliosaurs) have carinae. Crocodiles, then again, would either have or not have striations all around the tooth. And what to make of the banding: is this just preservational, or does it reflect the internal structure of the tooth - i.e. outcome of the tooth's ontological growth? Tooth measures 18 mm and is missing the tip. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Mixosaurus ichthyosaur skull?
FF7_Yuffie posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Hello, Saw this for sale, wondering if it is legit? Found in Guixhou, part of an old collection from the 60s. Matrix is 12 inch x 6.6 inch x 2.2 inch. Desriptions says no restorations but it has been glued. Thanks for the help -
I've always been fascinated by the Cretaceous sea and its myriad of terrifying carnivores, many that would've made Jaws look meek. After watching BBC's Sea Monsters, I made it my goal to compile a box of sea monster fossils. I started this journey 10 years ago, and finally completed the box recently. Allow me to present my Predators of the Cretaceous Sea collection, and take you on a journey to the most dangerous sea of all times. The box measures 20.25 inches long. Inside are 24 unique predator fossils. I will introduce them from left to right, top to bottom: Rhombodus binkhorsti Age: 70.6 - 66 mya | late Cretaceous Formation: Severn Formation Locality: Bowie, Maryland, USA Size: 1 meters Diet: Molluscs and crustaceans art by Nobu Tamura --------------- Polyptychodon interruptus Age: 105.3 - 94.3 mya | Cretaceous Formation: Stoilensky Quarry stratigraphic unit Locality: Stary-Oskol, Belgorod Oblast, Russia Size: Maybe 7 meters (This is a tooth taxon so size is not confirmed) Diet: Anything it could catch Note: If you consider Polytychodon a nomen dubium, then this is a Pliosauridae indet. art by Mark Witton ----------------- Prognathodon giganteus Age: 70.6 - 66 mya | late Cretaceous Formation: Ouled Abdoun Basin Locality: Khouribga Phosphate Deposits, Morocco Size: 10-14 meters Diet: Everything art by SYSTEM(ZBrushCentral) --------------- Coloborhynchinae indet. Age: 99.7 - 94.3 mya | late Cretaceous Formation: Kem Kem Beds Locality: Southeast Morocco Size: 7 meters (high estimate) Diet: Fish and cephalopods
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I’ve been trying to find out what ichthyosaurs are found in Dorset, from the Lyme Regis, but I’m having quite a bit of trouble. I’ve found sites that list the species of different types of animals found at certain locations, but I can’t find anything like that about “Dorset” or “Lyme Regis”. At the moment I’m interested in finding out out the ichthyosaurs, but in the past I’ve looked for the same thing about plesiosaur/pliosaur, and croc species, so that would be great if anyone had information about pretty much any species of reptiles found there. Thanks very much for any and everyone’s time and effort! As always, it’s extremely appreciated!
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Hello, I recently got a hold of this tooth from an old collection in the UK. I am unsure if this tooth wouldve come from a ichthyosaur or a pliosaur since the root is absent and I'm not expert in this material, so any feedback that help figure this tooth out is appreciated.
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Hi, everyone I had a great hunt at Charmouth today and found a couple of rarer remains. I found two articulated Ichthyosaurus vertebrae almost as soon as I walked onto the beach and later on another bone that is probably Ichthyosaurus as well. Seldom do I find any decent marine reptile remains, so this was a good trip for me.
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Marine Reptile Bone Collection from Lyme Regis and Charmouth (England)
Paleoworld-101 posted a topic in Member Collections
I've spent a fair amount of time now combing the beaches around Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset, England, and thought i would put together a topic that presents all of my marine reptile bone finds (so far) in one place. The fossils here are Early Jurassic in age, approx. 195-190 million years old and come predominantly from the Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone formations. I first visited this area in 2013 with the simple goal of finding at least one ichthyosaur vertebra, and now after three subsequent trips in 2014, 2017 and 2019, i've put together a far better assortment of finds than i could have possibly hoped for! I think i have been quite lucky along this coastline, although it has taken many hours to amass this collection. Across all four of my England trips i have spent a total of 18 days looking for bones in the Lyme Regis area, most often on the stretch of beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth but sometimes at Monmouth Beach as well. This coastline also produces a large quantity and diversity of ammonites, belemnites, crinoids, bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, and even rare insects. However i've always been most interested in fossil vertebrates, and so the ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs that are found here have been my primary target for collecting. There are also some impressive articulated fish to be found, but as yet i have had no luck in finding any! Ichthyosaur bones are the most common type of vertebrate fossil in the area, particularly their bi-concave vertebrae. Less commonly you can also find pieces of the jaw, sometimes with teeth. If you are extra lucky though you may also find plesiosaur bones, which for whatever reason are much rarer than those of ichthyosaurs. The best way to find any type of marine reptile bone around Lyme Regis is to closely examine the shingle on the beach, and i've spent seemingly countless hours bent over and slowly walking along the shore looking for them. If you have a bad back it's even more difficult! I've learnt that bones can be found pretty much anywhere on the beach: in the slumping clays, at the top of the beach in the 'high and dry' shingle, along the middle of the beach, at the low tide line, and also underwater amongst the rocky pools and ledges. And just when i start to think that the beach has already been heavily searched and there isn't much left to find, there always seems to be another bone that turns up, often lying in plain sight. The truth is that most people who visit here to collect are not experts and will probably walk past a lot of these bones, as the texture is the most important thing that gives them away and learning to recognise it takes a bit of time. For the sorts of articulated skeletons that sometimes make news headlines and are beautifully intact, searching the shingle is not the way to go, but for a short term visitor like me i think it is the best way of maximising the chances of finding any sort of reptile bone in the shortest amount of time (and something i can take back with me on the plane too!). Without further ado, here are the pics (spread across multiple posts due to file size limits). I've also included as-found pictures for some of these finds to provide a sense of what they look like and how they are found when they are on the beach. The collection so far. Starting first with my favourite Lyme Regis fossil, this is a very nice plesiosaur vertebra that is in great condition! A very rare find! I have been very fortunate to find two plesiosaur vertebrae at Lyme Regis so far, although this one is smaller and more beach-worn than the previous example. Continued below.- 23 replies
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Hey guy & gals, I am having a problem seeing the "loads of tiny teeth" in the crumpled/chewed up Ichthyosaur rostrum mandible section. Can someone point them out to me? This specimen is from a very reliable dealer. It's from the Lyme Regis, Dorset, England and is Jurassic. I know they're there somewhere but can't seem to find/see them. My age may be effecting my eyesight LOL. By the way, I took these photos with my new Veho VMS-004 microscope recommended by Christian about a month ago. Still trying to get used to it but I think my closeup photos will be better.
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Hi Here’s another fossil I found over Christmas. These bones are pretty rare and are the articulated ischium and pubis from an ichthyosaur. No prep involved apart from cutting the block to size and applying a thin coat of varnish to increase the contrast between the bone and matrix. The fossil is from the Hettangian of Penarth. The block before:
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Hi I found this over Christmas. It’s an ichthyosaur coracoid in shelly limestone from the lower Jurassic of Penarth.
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Ok first off this "65 million year old" fossil that comes from the "Jurassic" period just shows how ignorant the author is. I had trouble reading any more, but I had no trouble enjoying the pictures of the fossil icthyosaur. https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEIJqm_wITm06zKsQ0oo0ZOUqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowzuOICzCZ4ocDMPX1qQY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
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I recently found this large vertebra lying in the silt at the edge of a recently excavated lake near Cambridge, UK. I thought it might be from an ichthyosaur, but am unsure because I am very new to this, and it seems far larger than others I have seen at 11cm/4.5inch diameter. Could anyone tell me for sure what this is? Many thanks P.S. the images are too large so I will upload in different posts
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