Gigantic Ichthyosaurus fossil: Latest sensation in Kiel!

Gigantic Ichthyosaurus fossil: Latest sensation in Kiel!

On May 7, 2025, an extraordinary fossil of a 3.8 meter long Ichthyosaurus, which is around 185 million years old, was delivered to the Zoological Museum of the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel (CAU). This ichthyosaur, whose skeleton is still embedded in the rock, is on permanent loan from the Braunschweig Natural History Museum. The official unveiling of the fossil is scheduled for October 16, 2023, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Kiel Museum.

Prof. Dr. Dirk Brandis, director of the Kiel Zoological Museum, describes this fossil as the largest and most valuable that has ever entered the museum. It will be part of a planned exhibition exploring the evolution of land animals back to the sea. The place of origin of the fossil is particularly remarkable: it was discovered in the Posidonia slate in Holzmaden, Baden-Württemberg. This geological formation area was formed during the Lower Jurassic (Lias or Black Jurassic), a period considered particularly crucial for the evolution of marine life.

Importance for research

The fossil has been in the possession of the State Natural History Museum in Braunschweig for more than 70 years. Mike Reich, the director of this museum, explains that the transfer of the fossil to Kiel can be traced back to his own excavation finds. In addition, the fossil symbolizes the national and international networking of the Kiel Zoological Museum. Both the museums in Braunschweig and Kiel belong to the NORe network, a museum association in the North and Baltic Sea regions. Together, the NORe houses have more than 20 million zoological and geological objects that are of great importance for international research.

These important finds, which expand knowledge about the evolution of marine life, underline the relevance of collaboration between different museums. The fossil finds from past eras provide valuable insights into the lives of ichthyosaurs, which lived at the same time as the dinosaurs but were not among them. These reptiles gave birth to living offspring, breathed air and had adapted to life in water over millions of years.

A look into evolution

Ichthyosaurs lived over 246 million years ago and evolved from land reptiles. Over time, these sea creatures took on fish-like forms and populated the oceans until about 95 million years ago. Many of these reptiles were about the size of sharks and fed on fish, squid, and other small prey. Some specimens even grew to over 20 meters long and were the top predators of their time. Scientists suspect that the Rutland fossil in England, which is geologically younger and about 180 million years old, belongs to the species Temnodontosaurus trigonodon, which was first discovered in Germany in ancient Jurassic rocks.

The uniqueness of the Kiel Ichthyosaurus fossil is described as a “unique discovery”. Not only is it of great historical value, but it also offers new insights into the evolutionary history of these fascinating sea creatures and their living conditions. The upcoming exhibition in the Zoological Museum will therefore be an important contribution to understanding the evolution of land animals that returned to water.

Further information on this topic can be found on the website Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, the North Sea newspaper and National Geographic be read.