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Help with indentification


Boneyard

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I'm new member and asking for help in identification of the fossil pictures below. I have a tag from the previous owner that says this is "Ichthyosaurus sp / Jurrasic  Period / Kimmeridge Clays/ England. Can anyone confirm this description is accurate ? The specimen is 10cm across. 3cm thick and weighs in at 1 pound 8 oz.  Any and all help appreciated!

Ichthyosaurus Sp 1.jpg

Ichthyosaurus Sp 3.jpg

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Moved to FOSSIL ID.  ;)

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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Hi there, and welcome to the forum! You've definitely brought your question to the right place ;)

 

This is indeed an ichthyosaur vertebra, which you can tell from the hourglass-shaped cross-section you'd get if you were to cut the vertebra midline across its diameter. Moreover, the preservation matches that of specimens dredged off the Smallmouth Sands near Weymouth. Moreover, seeing as this is a Kimmeridgian find and, thus, Late Jurassic in age, I'd have belonged to an ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur, a derived parvipelvian species and thuniform swimmer. As such, most ichthyosaur finds from this location are attributed to Brachypterygius extremus.

'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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