Curator of Natural Sciences
Heritage & Culture Warwickshire (HCW)
Warwickshire County Council
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Dear colleagues,
Enclosed are three photographs of a small partial ichthyosaur skeleton that is
in the collection of the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle. In the mid-1970s it
was found in the soil of a garden near Carlisle – so obviously it could be
from anywhere.
If it is local it would be a very early specimen, potentially from the Upper
Triassic. Yet its preservation and host matrix is not familiar to anyone who
has seen it. Whilst there are clearly some macro invertebrates preserved in
the matrix, they have proved impossible to identify due to poor preservation.
Similarly, samples of the matrix have been analysed for microfossils but none
are preserved so the specimen cannot be dated that way.
Do you recognize the matrix or the preservation of the fossil? Do you know
where it might be from? If so, please get in touch off-list. Any thoughts are
welcome.
Thank you for your help. With best wishes, Nigel.
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