The Ichthyosaur of La Robine^{Sensitive Natural Spaces}

Description

Its name comes from the Greek terms ikhthus (fish) and sauros (lizard). The Ichthyosaur, in fact, looks like a fish but belongs to the order of reptiles. The shape of its very hydrodynamic body is reminiscent of that of a shark or a dolphin. Its four limbs transformed into swimming paddles, its dorsal fin and its bilobed tail ensured it great speed of movement. The ichthyosaurs disappeared towards the end of the secondary era, about 90 million years ago, even before the extinction of all the large reptiles 65 million years ago.

After his death, he was covered in a waterlogged mud and bacterial veil that protected his skeleton. Then this mud became loaded with rock and the fossilized skeleton trapped in the rock gangue was preserved.

Labels & accessibility

• Circuits of France_POI
• Nature reserve of France
• Sensitive Natural Spaces