Pyritized, Sliced Ichthyosaur Vertebra - Great Cell Structure

This is a pyrite replaced Ichthyosaur vertebra from the Volga River in Russia. It has been sliced in half revealing the pyritization and the internal cell structure which is preserved. It would be Lower Cretaceous, Hauterivian Stage or approximately 130 million years old.

The outer surface of the vertebra has been stabilized. Both halves are included along with a pair of display stand.

Ichthyosaurs ("Fish Lizard") was a giant marine reptile which thrived from much of the Mesozoic era. They evolved in the mid Triassic from a group of unidentified land reptiles which transition back into the water. This line evolved in parallel to the ancestors of todays dolphins and whales, something known as convergent evolution.