Ichthyosaur fossil skeletons inside Quarry 2, Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, Nevada, 2015 (IMAGE)
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Findings published today in the journal Current Biology examine a rich fossil bed in the renowned Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, where many 50-foot-long ichthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis) lay petrified in stone. The study suggests that nearly 200 million years before giant whales evolved, school bus-sized marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs may have been making migrations to breed and give birth together in relative safety. To try to solve the prehistoric mystery of how these ichthyosaurs met their end, the team combined newer paleontological techniques such as 3D scanning and geochemistry with traditional paleontological perseverance by poring over archival materials, photographs, maps, field notes and drawer after drawer of museum collections for shreds of evidence that could be reanalyzed. Although most well-studied paleontological sites excavate fossils so they can be more closely studied by scientists at research institutions, the main attraction for visitors to the Nevada State Park-run Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park is a barn-like building that houses what researchers call Quarry 2, an array of ichthyosaurs that have been left embedded in the rock for the public to see and appreciate. Quarry 2 has partial skeletons from an estimated seven individual ichthyosaurs that all appear to have died around the same time.
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Neil Kelley / Vanderbilt University
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