The Solnhofen area in Southern Germany is famous for its fossils from the Late Jurassic, that includes Archaeopteryx, usually recognized as the first bird, and many other animals, a lot of them maintained with soft tissues in addition to skeletons and teeth, which is unusual in the fossil record.
The new peer-reviewed paper explains 2 ichthyosaur specimens from the Solnhofen location, approximately 150 million years of ages. They are housed in the Jura-Museum, owned by the Bishops Seminar Eichstätt. One ichthyosaur is a total specimen, with the internal skeleton and an overview of the soft tissue around the body. The other is a total tail fin. It is preserved with the tail vertebrae and the soft tissues around, verifying that ichthyosaurs also in this group had a moon-shaped tail, like their ancestors.
The research study was performed by a cross-disciplinary group of scientists. Lene Liebe Delsett, the lead author, and Jørn Hurum, have dealt with marine reptiles for numerous years at the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway. Martina Kölbl-Ebert is an expert on the Solnhofen area and its animals. They dealt with mineralogist Henrik Friis, who evaluated the soft tissue samples in order to see what it contained.
Large ichthyosaur in normal and UV light. Credit: Lene L Delsett
Because it informs a complete story, the total specimen is really what makes this project distinct. Ichthyosaurs are not typical as fossils in Solnhofen, which at the time was a reasonably shallow area with lots of islands, whereas ichthyosaurs were open ocean dwellers. We do not know why this one got in the lagoons, but it might be the reason it died. Seeing the specimen makes an impact since it is so obviously a total, dead animal body, where we can see its shape because of the special conservation, Delsett states.
Throughout or after death, the ichthyosaur arrived on its back and side on the seafloor, and was covered in great sediments. Little oxygen and quite a lot of luck maintained it up until it was found and excavated in 2009. In the paper, the scientists do a first description of the specimen and start the process of comprehending its soft tissue. In order to do so, they took little samples from the soft tissue in the tail and took a look at it by means of X-ray crystallography and a scanning electron microscopic lense. Since the skeletons and the rock they are protected in, have almost the exact same colour, UV light was utilized for studying the shape of the bones to understand which kind of ichthyosaur these are. They discovered that phosphate discovered in the tissues of the ichthyosaurs likely contributed to the preservation.It is not yet possible to determine all of the fossilized tissue enters the ichthyosaur, but the brand-new study confidently validates the conservation of skin and possibly connective tissue. The significant part of the matter that covers the specimen and surrounds is probably decomposed blubber.
We know from earlier research study that ichthyosaurs likely had a blubber, like whales have today. Our research study validates this, for a group of ichthyosaurs where this has not been specific. The blubber is another strong resemblance in between whales and ichthyosaurs, in addition to their body shape. In the future, I hope that these two ichthyosaurs from Solnhofen can be used to improve our understanding of swimming, as they maintain tail and body shape, Delsett says.
Reference: “The soft tissue and skeletal anatomy of 2 Late Jurassic ichthyosaur specimens from the Solnhofen archipelago” by Lene L. Delsett?, Henrik Friis, Martina Kölbl-Ebert and Jørn H. Hurum, 7 April 2022, PeerJ.DOI: 10.7717/ peerj.13173.
Ichthyosaur ill. Credit: Esther van Hulsen
A brand-new research study published in PeerJ uses contemporary methods to comprehend the preservation of distinct ichthyosaur fossils. One total animal and one tail are the first to maintain external body shape in the last, big group of ichthyosaurs.
2 essential terms:
Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles living in the Age of dinosaurs. Their fossils are found all over the world, and they are popular for having a fish-like shape looking like todays dolphins.
The brand-new peer-reviewed paper explains 2 ichthyosaur specimens from the Solnhofen location, around 150 million years old. One ichthyosaur is a complete specimen, with the internal skeleton and an outline of the soft tissue around the body. It is preserved with the tail vertebrae and the soft tissues around, verifying that ichthyosaurs also in this group had a moon-shaped tail, like their forefathers.
They found that phosphate found in the tissues of the ichthyosaurs most likely contributed to the preservation.It is not yet possible to recognize all of the fossilized tissue types in the ichthyosaur, however the brand-new study with confidence validates the preservation of skin and potentially connective tissue. In the future, I hope that these 2 ichthyosaurs from Solnhofen can be utilized to boost our understanding of swimming, as they protect tail and body shape, Delsett states.