Ichthyosaur flipper (OUMNH PAL-J.026954a,b)

3D Model

Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. Lower Jurassic (~200 million years old).

Ichthyosaurs traversed the world’s oceans and captured the imagination of Victorian England, finding a place amongst the famous Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.

This specimen comprises the humerus, ulna, radius, proximal and distal carpals of an Ichthyosaurus (though the end of the flipper is missing). The interlocking carpals increased the flipper’s rigidity, allowing this extinct marine reptile to move through the ocean.

Fossil enthusiast Elizabeth Philpot kept this specimen in her collection. However, Elizabeth’s close friend, Mary Anning, also had a keen interest in ichthyosaurs and found the first complete ichthyosaur skull and torso with her brother, Joseph Anning, in Lyme Regis around 1811.

Specimen: OUMNH PAL- J.026954a,b Collections Online: https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/oum-catalogue-672744 and https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/oum-catalogue-708343