Koller - Out of This World Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4pm

1883 ICHTHYOSAUR „STENOPTERYGIUSQUADRISCISSUS“ Holzmaden, Germany Lower Jurassic, around 200 million years 173 x 82 cm (200 x 100 cm stone disc) Provenance: Swiss private collection The name ichthyosaur comes from the Greek and means „fish lizard“. This extinct group of reptiles originally descended from land lizards and only later became aquatic, marine organisms. Their bodies show a strong resemblance to those of sharks and dolphins. It is therefore not surprising that the first finds puzzled science. It can be assumed that the ichthyosaurs were very good and fast swimmers as well as excellent divers, so they reached depths of more than 1000 meters. Their large eyes played a central role. The reptile is said to have possessed a visual range of 500 meters underwater. The annular sclerotical ring, a bone structure boun- ding the eye, protected and supported it from the pressure and speed while swimming and diving. Since they still needed air to breathe, the reptiles had to come to the surface of the water each time. Numerous fossil finds show that ichthyosaurs were vivipa- rous. Females did not go ashore to lay eggs, and the young were born fully formed. Ichthyosaurs fed predatorily on fish, belemnites, or even small turtles. Ichthyosaurs lived in the Mesozoic over a period of more than 150 million years and became extinct about 90 million years ago, i.e. about 30 million years before the dinosaurs. The present specimen is in perfect original condition and shows practically no signs of restoration. CHF 35 000 / 60 000 (€ 33 980 / 58 250) | 88 Out of This World | Natural History, Space Exploration & Entertainment Memorabilia