Ichthyosaur remains to be auctioned for £500,000

The skeleton of an ichthyosaur, a Jurassic predator about 2.4 meters long, was safely preserved in soft carbonate mud.

This specimen was discovered in Lorraine, France in the early 2000s during the construction of a high-speed TGV rail line. Since most complete ichthyosaur fossils are owned by museums, those that turn up on the private market usually sell for high prices.

This model will be on sale at Bonhams in Paris on December 13th and is expected to cost hundreds of thousands.

Claudia Florian, Consulting Director of Natural History at Bonhams: “This skeleton is original, with a total of more than 80 percent real bones. This is the first time that such a complete specimen, found in France, will be put up for auction. Complete and well-preserved specimens are rare. Some of the best known specimens tend to be flattened in argillaceous deposits, so it is quite rare to find an example where the skeleton is not only well represented, but the bones are preserved in three dimensions.”

Ichthyosaurs, which means “fish-like lizards” in Greek, were a species of reptile that flourished during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods between 252 and 90 million years ago. Originating from the ocean, they migrated to land before eventually evolving back into the water.

They are known for their fish-like form, reminiscent of modern dolphins, but are often misidentified as swimming dinosaurs.

The first complete ichthyosaur skeleton was found in Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1811 by 12-year-old English paleontologist Mary Anning.

In 1840, the term ichthyosauria was introduced by the English biologist Sir Richard Owen, and today about 80 species are known.

Thousands of bones from the auctioned ichthyosaur were individually removed and restored before being placed on a brass stand.

In May of this year, another 139-million-year-old ichthyosaur specimen was found in Chile and was pregnant with several young at the time of her death. The remains of a creature named Fiona were recovered by researchers from a melting glacier deep in Patagonia. The find added evidence that ichthyosaurs gave birth to live young, unlike dinosaurs that lay eggs.

The first known fossil of a pregnant ichthyosaur was discovered in 1749 and scientifically described in 1842. It was the largest complete fossil ever documented, at 3.5 meters long.

Another fossil was found in 2021 at the bottom of Rutland Reservoir in the Midlands. It is the largest and most complete skeleton found in the UK, at 10 meters long and with a skull weighing a ton.

The specimen, which lived about 180 million years ago, was found during the drainage of the reservoir. A team of paleontological experts from across the UK had to extract the giant skeleton using a tractor.

Christina DENISYUK.

Photo: Bonhams BNPS; Shutterstock/Dotted Yeti.