Partial Ichthyosaur From Posidonia Shale - 27x18"

This is a beautiful plate containing the partial remains of a Ichthyosaur from the the Posidonia Shale of Southern Germany. There are two articulated paddles measuring 9 1/2" & 8 3/4" long, 7 large vertebra, ribs and a limb bone. The preservation on the bones is very nice, and they were prepared so that they stand out in good relief against the shale matrix. There are a few repaired cracks in the plate but no significant restoration to the bones beyond repairing cracks.

This large place weighs about 20 lbs, it would look very impressive displayed either on a stand or as a wall mount.



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.