Ichthyosaur skull, lower jurassic

This slab comes from the Lower Jurassic (Posidonienschiefer - Lias epsilon) of Holzmaden in Germany. It contains the partial skeleton of Ichthyosaurus. Preserved are the skull with mandibles (with teeth), the shoulder girdle and the front paddles.

Worth to mention is the position of the animal, often these are laterally located, this piece shows the rare view from above. The bones are in excellent condition, they have been prepared with the most modern preparation techniques (air abrading). Earlier such finds were scraped what injured the bones and destroyed many of the fine structures.

The plate measures about 75 x 47 cm. The skull itselfe measures about 43 cm. It is beautifully preserved three dimensional, and rises about 3 cm from the stone (unfortunately the pictures do not show this clearly). Sadly, nowadays most of the quarries round Holzmaden are closed, so not many new finds are expected in the future.

The plate was broken and has been glued. Honest Fossil - no restaurations at all!

Museum piece!

SOLD