Digital Ichthyosaurs & Rebuilding in Three Dimensions

Live & Virtual: Digital Ichthyosaurs & Rebuilding in Three Dimensions

After 200 years of study there remain many questions about the biology of the Jurassic fish-like sea dragons, ichthyosaurs. Many specimens are superbly preserved but often pancake flat. However, specimens from the ‘Jurassic Ark’ at Strawberry Bank, Ilminster, are fully three dimensional.

Combining these fossils with cutting-edge computational technology enables new insights into the bones of these ichthyosaurs. This talk will introduce these techniques and explain how they are being used to revitalise long dead bones, through reconstructing the brain and sensory abilities of ichthyosaurs, their muscles and feeding, and even comparing the whole body and the evolution of streamlining. These studies are paving the way for new understanding of the biology of the ocean ecosystems 180 million years ago.

Dr Benjamin C Moon, School of Earth Sciences Palaeobiology, University of Bristol

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