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Showing results for tags 'ichthyosaur'.
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From the album Holzmaden
A 1.4 cm long Ichthyosaur tooth from the lower Jurassic from the quarry Kromer near Holzmaden (Germany). Some more pictures: -
Hi all, This is a report on my recent fossil hunting trip to Ulyanovsk region, Russia, inspired by the most interesting stories and pictures I read and looked up here. I took many photos myself in an attempt to convey the atmosphere. I dont think you know much about Russian fossil hunting spots, so I start with a short description of the place I visited. Ulyanovsk Oblast (region) is located in the middle Volga basin and much of its territory is covered by a part of the Kuybyshev Reservoir (largest in Europe). Its sometimes called Kuybyshev sea and for a reason: with distance between coasts reaching 30-40 kilometres, unless the weather is super clear, the other coast is not visible. Add frequent stormy weather with high waves and the impression of a sea is almost complete. Creating the reservoir lead to big scale soil erosion with prehistoric layers coming to surface. They are constantly washed away with fossils becoming available by simply walking along the shore. Basically all the western coast in the region is covered with late Jurassic-early Cretaceous deposits, mostly Kimmeridge clay (155 ma) with Hauterivian layers (130 ma). The fossils are good quality and do not require any preservation except the fact they are often pirytised thus subject to oxidation. The place is (or was) very rich in sea fossils: ammonites, belemnites, reptile remains etc. They say at least 3 reptile genus and 20 species were recentlydescribed by the remains found here, for instance Undorosaurus (name derives from local village's name), Makhaira rossica, Luskhan etc. Paleontology sections of three regional museums (Ulyanovsk, Tatarstan and Samara, with some going to Moscow) feature impressive exhibits taken from here including compete or almost complete sea reptile skeletons. (You can see some of them here, here and here). Unfortunately there have been too many guys looking for fossils and fine pieces of local yellow calcite to sell, passing like a vacuum cleaner picking up everything valuable from early spring to late autumn. By the way, a nature reserve (zakaznik on a regional scale, which itself is pretty weak) was created here in 1980s right to counter this situation, but with lack of effort it turned into a joke. The local village museum was charged with enforcing the reserve status - let's assume its management did not have the funds or personnel to prevent anybody from picking up fossils (not to assume they were picking them up themselves alongside the poachers without reporting them to the public). Anyway as a law-abiding citizen, I was collecting outside the reserve's boundaries. Here the fossil-rich shore is marked in green, the reserve in red and 3 main fossil-related villages in blue. I used to spend vacations in a local sanatorium as a schoolboy and accumulated quite a collection of local thingies ( I sure was fascinated by my findings and paleontology in general). In April I decided to spend there a couple of days again. The receptionist asked if I had been there before. Only in childhood, I replied. She laughed - nothing had changed since then. Well, I hoped so:)
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In my last couple of collecting trips I have found some larger than normal vertebra from the Australian ichthyosaur platyptergius australis. What I am after is some literature that may enable me to calculate the length of an ichthyosaur based on the vertebra size. I realise that the approximate body position the vertebrae will need to be a major part of the calculation. Previously the larger vertebrae I found were around 80 mm diameter x 25 mm thick and quite often vertebrae from infants were also found with these so I had assumed fully grown. The last couple of vertebra have measured 120 mm diameter x 40 mm. This disparagement in size could be due to the younger / smaller females being more prone to dying during birth, they kept growing throughout there life or perhaps the alpha males were larger. Thanks in advance for all input Mike
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Not really sure Nodulised is even a word but I found it formed in a round nodule today, this is my first time cracking open one and finding a vert usually they have some part poking out. It was fresh from the cliff and had no indication on what was inside. A real nice surprise. Quite big and a nice split too. Comparison between a smaller recent vert.
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Hello, this is my first post Just wanted to share my most recent find from the Jurassic coast of Charmouth, Dorset UK. I found this pebble with what appeared to be bone, had it prepped and it has turned into an ichthyosaur paddle with ribs/gastralia and a couple ammonites! Best regards, Kam
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- ichthyosaur
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From the album Holzmaden
A 1.6 cm long Ichthyosaur (perhaps Temnodontosaurus) tooth from the lower Jurassic from the quarry Kromer near Holzmaden (Germany). The prep work was kinda hard because the tooth broke into two pieces. Some more pictures: -
Thought you may be interested in this ichthyosaur vert i found. It’s the biggest one i’ve found. Really nice and chunky! Possibly from a Temnodontosaurus although they get even bigger from this species. This is from the Yorkshire coast. The vert compared to one of my other verts i thought was on the large side!
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From the album Holzmaden
A 2.5 cm long Ichthyosaur vertebra from the quarry Kromer near Holzmaden (Lower Jurassic, Posidonia Shale). Here is a picture of the unprepped cross section: It took about 3 hours to prep this one. Some more pictures: -
Ichthyosaur skull prep - saving a fossil that was poorly excavated
-Andy- posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
Sometime ago, I acquired an ichthyosaur skull that was poorly prepped. It had been roughly grinded and had lost much of its surface details. This is unlike the Holzmaden-style ichthyosaurs that were professionally prepped from the beginning, resulting in a beautiful fossil with scleral eye rings and full teeth etc. It's the reason collectors get unprepped Keichousaurus and send them to professional preppers, with the resultant Keichousaurus being more detailed than the ones you see from the Chinese market. This guy here is as flat as a pancake and so it would take delicate work to remove the hard matrix without damaging what bones still remain. Thankfully, @steelhead9 was up to the task of prepping him further. There is no restoration here. I'd say he has done one heck of a job.- 10 replies
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Last Saturday I was in the quarry Kromer (Posidonia Shale, Lower Jurassic) for the first time of the year. Maybe some of you already noticed this topic: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/93302-prepping-a-plate-with-some-ichthyosaur-vertebrae/ Beside of this plate I also found some other cool things but firstly here is a picture of the quarry: You are allowed to search in the heaps on the left behind the white car. The material isn't that bad at the moment. I was there about 6 hours and I found about 6 teeth. I already prepped three Stenosaurus (crocodile) teeth: 1 cm long: 1.8 cm long: (the best one) And 1.2 cm long: (damaged) I also found this fish: The cross section is about 5 cm long and it will need very much prep work... I don't think that I will do this one in the near future although a friend and expert said that this is a kinda nice find! My favourite finds were the bones. I found several incomplete ones which I didn't take home but also the plate with the vertebrae and another plate with some bones on it. Here is a picture of one of the visible bones: I think that should be an Ichthyosaur Humerus but I am not entire sure. I will post some more pictures of it tomorrow and after the prep. There are also a couple of ribs on the plate so it could be interesting! And for all the invertebrate fans. Here is a sweet little ammonite: Thanks for watching!!
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I found these two rarther worn bones in the same spot afew weeks apart in Yorkshire. I’m thinking broken humerus and any suggestions on the other bone are welcome, guessing some other part of the paddle. Not sure if it looks right for the radius or ulna though. (humerus) bottom bit worn away and top where the other paddle hones go. Other bone of similar quality and condition.
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The quarry Kromer near Holzmaden did open two weeks ago (it was closed during winter). So last Saturday I was there the first time this year and I have to say that I am kinda satisfied with my finds! I found several marine reptile teeth, some mainly incomplete bones and a fish with much potential. In this topic I want to show how I prep/prepped a plate on which originally two Ichthyosaur verts were visible. The verts are all about 4 cm big. Here is a picture of the unprepped plate: (I have the other parts...) The prep work is very difficult because the stone is extremely hard. So I have to use my air pen to remove the stone directly above the verts and then I remove the remaining thin layer with my sandblaster with about 6 bar which is probably too much for the bones but otherwise I wouldnt do any progress ... This is the current situation: Until now I prepped about 4 hours and now you see that there are even more vertebrae on the plate At least 3 and a half.... And here is the one which wasnt visible at first. I damaged it a bit but I think its not too bad. Hopefully the stone is a bit softer around this one: I think I have to work many hours on it so wish me luck @LiamL
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Revisited an Ophthalmosaurus (meaning “eye lizard” in Greek) icenicus ichthyosaur vertebra from my collection. And decided to apply a paraloid solution to complete the preparation of this find to help stabilise the RARE Secarodus polyprion hybodont shark tooth attached, which was possibly scavenging the animal at the time. Thought you would like to see it.
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Hello everyone! I recently picked this item up. It was labelled as a ichthyosaur vertebrae, however I just couldn’t shake the feeling it wasn’t. I purchased it and have done some comparing to my other specimens and looking through my textbooks. I’m thinking it could be a paddle digit. The way the lines of the bone sprawl out from the centre rather than the ring formation of some of my vertebrae. Of course I could be completely wrong but there’s always that thrill of the unknown. I’ve compared it to a partial paddle I have and a humerus I also have in some photos to give an idea. Hope someone can help. Kind regards Ryan
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Hey! Thought I would share a photo of my British Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaur teeth (and 2 Plesiosaur ribs and a shark tooth!) Most of these fossils come from South Wales except for the large tooth. It is suspected to be from Eurycleidus and was found in Aust, England. Plesiosaur teeth from the UK are apparently very rare.
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From the album Holzmaden
A 1.5 cm long Ichthyosaur tooth from the quarry Kromer near Holzmaden (Lower Jurassic, Posidonia Shale). -
From the album Holzmaden
A stone with two ribs, a half vertebra and some rests of some belemnits from the quarry Kromer near Holzmaden (Lower Jurassic). All the bones are Ichthyosaur bones. The story of this one is kinda curious because on the stone was firstly only the damaged vertebra visible. But after a hit with my hammer I saw two cross sections, which belong to Ichthyosaur ribs: After some prep: And some pictures of the result: It was very tough to prep it because the stone is extremely hard and the separation layer between the fossil and stone was bad. I think all in all it took about 5 hours to finish this one. I am not completely satisfied with the result but its okay.- 2 comments
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This is a interesting article I came across today. A new analysis of a nearly 200-million-year-old skull has surprised scientists, but not merely because the skull was enormous — nearly 3 feet (1 meter) long — or because it was exquisitely preserved and not squashed, like many other Jurassic-period fossils are. Remarkably, the skull is three-dimensionally preserved and contains bones that are rarely exposed. Using cutting-edge CT scanning technology, the team o scientist have been able to digitally recreate the entire skull in 3D. More information: Here
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Recently you could find "many" bones and teeth in a "Bonebed" in a quarry near Buttenheim in Germany. Too bad I was a bit too late to search in this Bonebed. As I was there it was still possible to find something but the layer was buried under about 1 meter dirt. So I couldn't really find something there. All bones and teeth come from the Toarcian. This thread of @Kasia inspired me to buy some teeth and bones from there too. So thank you for the inspiration Here are my acquirements: I bought three Steneosaurus (crocodile) teeth: The first one is about 1. 3 cm long: Detailed: The next one is a big one with a length of 2 cm. This one was found in Altdorf: The last one is damaged and small (0.8 cm long) Beside of these Croc teeth I also bought some Ichthyosaur material from there: A 1.1 cm long tooth which could be quite nice if someone didn't glued it that bad... I am not sure what I will do with this one because there seems to be another tooth in the matrix and I will maybe try to break it and glue it a bit better. Too bad the teeth are extremely fragile so I am not sure what I will do... And another small Ichthyosaur tooth with a length of 0.6 cm: And last but not least three small Ichthyosaur vertebrae: All three are a bit bigger than 2 cm. All in all I have to say that I am quite satisfied with my purchase expecially because I didn't had to pay too much money for them. Thanks for viewing
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What do you reckon the man in the bowler hat is contemplating while standing on that Ichthyosaur's head (Couldn't find the image source though, can anyone help?).
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From the album Yorkshire Ichthyosaur Fossils
A close up two Ichthyosaur Teeth present on my Find of the month fossil. -
I'm finally done today with the prepjob of the associated Ichtiosaur verts I found in october near Wimereux in France. thanks to my honney who helped me. We even restored a 4th vertebra hidden under the matrix that was dammaged during the extraction of the fossil. As found: start of the prepp: Work in progress: adding the broken vertebra: the finnished fossil:
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Firstly apologies for the lateness of this post, spent a week down in Lyme Regis from the 17th of December. Was out most evenings and some mornings due to the tide times, however i found hunting at night just as productive and with a lot less competition! The weather had been incredibly rough and was a bit unsettling at night when you could hear parts of the cliff falling down! The first few nights i mainly found ammonites and a few pieces of rolled bone (no photos of these, can put some up if anyone wishes me too) Best find was a partial ichthyosaur rostrum from below the Black Ven. Unfortunately no teeth and it has been very well rolled! None the less i was most pleased to find it. Found a couple more nice sized ammonites covered in pyrite and one well worn vertebra. See attached images. If anyone would like anymore photos please do not hesitate to ask. All in all a good week. Thanks for reading.
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Last Friday and last Sunday I visited the quarry Mistelgau in Bavaria. Its since 2005 abandoned and a very beautiful geotop. But you can still find fossils there! It's possible to find various Jurassic fossils like ammonites, gastropodes, marine reptile bones .... I was mainly interested in finding some Ichthyosaur bones and all in all I was quite successful. Here is a picture of the quarry: Belemnits can be found everywhere ... I found 6 Ichthyosaur vertebrae and 5 paddle bones. The vertebrae: The two associated vertebrae are my favourite ones. Unprepped: And prepped: The preparation wasn't too easy. It took 3 or 4 hours. Some more detailed pictures of vertebrae: Unprepped: Prepped:
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- lower jurassic
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From the album Yorkshire Ichthyosaur Fossils
3 articulated verts and a rib. There is another bit of bone at the bottom possibly a tiny bit of another vert.
