Ichthyosaur Skeleton Plaque Replica

Description

Ichthyosaur skeleton plaque replica measures 23.0 x 4.0 x 6.0 inches. This  museum-quality polyurethane resin cast of a BYU specimen is 1:1 scale. and made in USA.

Ichthyosaurus means “fish lizard” in Greek. These large, extinct marine reptiles varied from one to over sixteen meters in length. They closely resembled modern fish and dolphins.

Evolution fully transformed their limbs into flippers. These flippers sometimes contained a very large number of digits. At least some species possessed a dorsal fin. Their pointed heads featured jaws with conical teeth to catch smaller prey.

Some species had larger, bladed teeth to attack large animals. Their massive eyes helped them hunt during deep dives. They possessed a short neck, and later species developed a stiff trunk.

Later species used a vertical tail fin for a powerful propulsive stroke. The vertebral column contained simplified, disc-like vertebrae. These bones continued directly into the lower lobe of the tail fin.

They thrived during much of the Mesozoic era. Fossil evidence shows they first appeared around 250 million years ago. At least one species survived until about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Reptilia
• Clade: †Eoichthyosauria
• Order: †Ichthyosauria Blainville, 1835
• Species: Specimen unassigned
• Biomial Name: †Ichthyosaurus sp.
• Conservation status: Extinct

Enhance your Triassic marine hall with the Ichthyosaurus skeleton panel to showcase a sixty-inch specimen cast from the BYU collection. Mount the mesosaur skeleton plaque to let visitors contrast early Permian flipper structures with the fully advanced dolphin-like anatomy of later eras.

Display the dapedium punctatus fossil replica to track the separate skeletal of a heavy-scaled Jurassic ray-finned fish. Conclude this evolutionary sequence with the phareodus testis fish replica to track how post-extinction Green River Eocene populated the same aquatic hunting zones.