Specifications
Descripción
Locality: Bamberg, Germany
Era: Mesozoic
Geological Age: Early Jurassic, likely Toarcian (Posidonia Shale), about 183 million years ago
Around 183 million years ago, in the Early Jurassic, the waters of the Tethys sea were spreading over the shelf areas of what is now southern Germany. Rivers carried carbon-rich plant material and silt into these seas, where it settled as black mud. Its decay used up the oxygen in the bottom water, during what geologists call the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. These muds became the Posidonia Shale.
The fossils of Banz, Holzmaden and Bad Boll all come from rocks laid down at this time. In 1841, workers near Unnersdorf, about 2 km from Kloster Banz north of Bamberg, uncovered an ichthyosaur skull 2.1 m long, still the largest found in Europe, together with part of its skeleton. The skull is displayed in the Kloster Banz fossil collection today.
Ichthyosaurs were air-breathing marine reptiles that never left the water. They were not dinosaurs. Through convergent evolution they developed a streamlined, fish-like body with flippers and a crescent-shaped tail fin. This vertebra comes from the backbone of one of these animals.
Each vertebra is a thick, rounded disc of fossilized bone, and many show concentric rings. Sizes are listed below.
Take a dive into deep time with this genuine ichthyosaur vertebra, a relic from the Early Jurassic seas of the Mesozoic era. Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that lived in the oceans at the same time as the dinosaurs. This vertebra was unearthed near Bamberg, Germany, a region known for its rich fossil deposits. likely from the Posidonia Shale (Toarcian), about 183 million years old, each piece carries the timeless story of evolution, extinction, and Earth's ever-changing landscapes. The smooth, rounded shape and concentric structure of these vertebrae are hallmarks of the ichthyosaur's streamlined, high-speed design.
Small
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 5cm x 2.7cm x 2.3cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 45g
Medium
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 6cm x 3cm x 2.7cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 60g
Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 6cm x 3.5cm x 2.7cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 70g
X-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 6.5cm x 3.5cm x 3.5cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 100g
2X-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 6.5cm x 4cm x 3.5cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 110g
3X-Large
Approximate Size of 1 Piece: 7cm x 4.5cm x 3cm
Approximate Weight of 1 Piece: 135g
Quantity: 1pc
We do our best to buy quality products- although not every rock is the same. If you choose to purchase the "staff pick option", we will select the best of the batch for you. Otherwise, it will be at random from the larger batch we have in stock.