Welsh Wizard Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi This is my first proper post, so here goes. Me and my brother found an ichthyosaur over the Christmas holidays. We picked up pieces over a number of separate days. The ichthyosaur is from the Lower Lias, Hettangian, and I thought I'd upload some pictures to share. Here are a few of the pieces as found: And here are these pieces glued back together and ready for prepping: The glued piece is approximately 18 inches long and the bone has been covered in paraloid to protect. You are looking at a set of ribs, a disarticulated front paddle and some bones from around the eye, plus a couple of the sclerotic plates. Assuming this has worked, I'll post some other pieces soon. regards Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi Nick, That is an excellent find, was this one found at Lavernock? I have a few pieces from that area but nothing as grand as this, very well done! Welcome to the forum by the way. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 ...And here are these pieces glued back together and ready for prepping: ichthyosaur pieces glued together.jpg ... Quite a transformation: good eye to spot them! Icthyosaurs are such iconic fossil beasts; as a child I regarded them with the same reverent awe as T-Rex...and still do, in truth. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneman007 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 That looks like a mosasaur vertebra right in the middle. Is it a paddle bone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi Thomas. Thanks for the comments. Yes it's part of the same one. The other bits I have are still in a box drying. Boneman. The bone in the centre is the humerus from the front paddle. The radius, ulna and other paddle digits are scattered to the right and bottom of the piece. Auspex. It is an iconic fossil. I'm not sure what species this is, but it may become clearer on prepping. regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Nick.... Congratulations.... certainly a great christmas present... Well done.... How much more of you got of this specimen?.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE&i Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hello Hick, That’s a great find well done to the both of you. Was it like all Christmases rolled into one? Have you considered an Ichthyosaurus brevicepsas a possibility they are off the same geological age. Darren. Regards.....D&E&i The only certainty with fossil hunting is the uncertainty. https://lnk.bio/Darren.Withers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hi Steve, I have part of the skull and the disarticulated rostrum, in another block about 18 inches long. I'll post soon. Darren, thanks for the suggestion. When I post further photos, you'll see that the rostrums quite long so its probably good old ichthyosaurus communis. Regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down under fossil hunter Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Great find! I have an ichthyosaurus communis in my collection and it is still my best fossil to date I love them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hi again some picture of the skull and rostrum bits: The first picture is of half of the skull. It's upside down, so you're looking at the inside of the skull. The bones pretty rotten: Picture 2 is of skull reverse prepped. The opening on the top of the skull cane be seen and the eye socket with some sclerotic plates is showing: Picture 3 shows the rostrum bits as found: Picture 4 is the splayed bones of the rostrum bits after a light clean. The end of the jaw is broken off and some teeth can be seen spread around. The teeth are about an inch long: I'll post some more as things progress regards Nick 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE&i Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Fantastic certainly looks as though you've got work cut out I shall be watching your posts. Darren. Regards.....D&E&i The only certainty with fossil hunting is the uncertainty. https://lnk.bio/Darren.Withers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Nick....Quite a lot by the looks of things....It should look great when its fully prepped... Look forward to seeing it.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Hi again here's a picture of how the bits shown above all fit together so far: regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcounts Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Definitely a fossil of the month contender... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evgeny Kotelevsky Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Excellent specimen!!! You are going to prep it out of matrix? http://evgenykotelevsky.wordpress.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Thanks for the comments JWCounts - It was found in Late Dec 2012/Early Jan 2013 and I've only just joined the forum so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to enter as fossil of the month? Any help appreciated. Evgeny - It probably won't be prepped out of the matrix but I'm just pondering what to do. The paddle/ribs will probably prep OK but the skull bones may have to be backed and reverse prepped. In April, I'm going to take it to someone who knows how to do this sort of thing and they'll have a look at it. regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Nick.... Very nice....You have a lot of the creature there by the looks of things it will be interesting to see the final prep.... Fossil of the Month can be entered for the month it is prepped.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sseth Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great skull material. This is a very nice piece. Great job with the puzzle work. _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebeth Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 That looks like a lot of fun, I'd love to get my hands on that. The skull might be touchy, but the other pieces would be great to prep. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Great specimen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkS Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Cool stuff there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Great find!! Looking forward to more progress reports! Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Nice find will love to see the final preped specimen. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 I went back to the see if I could find any more of the ichthyosaur today. Unfortunately, after searching the rockfall for hours I was unable to locate any more bones. They are either still in cliff, lost to sea or drifted away prior to fossilization. Good news is that i did manage to pick up a few pieces of mudstone that contained the ammonite psiloceras planorbis, which confirms that the ichthyosaur is from the earliest part of the Hettangian. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 Nominally identified as ichthyosaurus somersetensis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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