Hands up if you have ever watched the classic Steven Spielberg film, 'Jaws'. Or perhaps you are looking forward to seeing the up-coming Hollywood blockbuster, 'The Meg', concerning a terrifying, long-believed extinct megalodon shark that suddenly appears after thousands of years with a rather unhealthy appetite for beach goers. Both films explore our fascination with terrifying sea creatures. Well forget about going to the cinema – how about having your very own ancient sea monster on your living room wall? In this week's Fossil auction, ending on 23rd April (2018), you have that opportunity as we proudly present specimens from the Peter Lovisek collection.
This special auction is filled with a superb range of fine fossil specimens including this remarkable example of an extremely rare Ichthyosaur skeleton. The name ' Ichthyosaurs' actually means ‘fish lizard’ in Greek. They were a family of marine reptiles that inhabited the ancient Mesozoic seas. Science was unaware of their existence until their skeletons were first found in early 19th century England. Since then they have been found in various locations worldwide.
Rare Ichthyosaur skeleton as seen in our Fossils auction
As hunters, ichthyosaurs were extremely well adapted to their environment. They could dive down to depths of almost 600 metres in search of their prey and could hold their breath for up to 20 minutes! And the largest eye of any known creature, alive or extinct, belongs to an ichthyosaur.
The largest eye of any known creature, alive or extinct, belongs to an ichthyosaur
The beautiful specimen up for auction comes from the Posidonia Shale Formation, near Stuttgart, Germany, and is one of only a very small number of skeletons found of the short beaked Stenopterygius hauffianus species. It is so well preserved that even its last meal, most likely squid or other cephalopods, can be seen as the dark area just below the rib cage.
This ichthyosaur fossil is so well preserved that even its last meal, most likely squid or other cephalopods
Rarely has such a complete and attractive specimen come onto the fossil market. Much time and effort has been spent on revealing the specimen from its dark grey grave of lithified marine sediments; this was truly a labour of love and the results are simply stunning.
Thankfully we don’t need to worry about ichthyosaur-infested seas nowadays, but who can fail to be impressed by these incredible creatures from the distant past? Can you see this stunning specimen on the wall of your living room, or the entrance hall of your business? Why not check out the full details in our Fossils auction ending on 23rd April (2018) and see how easy it is to have this wish come true!
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