page_title: Timeline of ichthyosaur research
section_title: 1850s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of ichthyosaur research / 19th century / 1850s
caption_attribution_description: English: A 6.4 meter (21ft) Eurhinosaurus species specimen from the Holzmaden Formation, Baden-Wurttenburg, Germany. ~185 million years old.
context_page_description: This timeline of ichthyosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ichthyosauromorphs, a group of secondarily aquatic marine reptiles whose later members superficially resembled dolphins, sharks, or swordfish. Scientists have documented ichthyosaur fossils at least as far back as the late 17th century. At that time, a scholar named Edward Lhwyd published a book on British fossils that misattributed some ichthyosaur vertebrae to actual fishes; their true nature was not recognized until the 19th century. In 1811, a boy named Joseph Anning discovered the first ichthyosaur fossils that would come to be scientifically recognized as such. His sister Mary would later find the rest of its skeleton and would go on to become a respected fossil collector and paleontologist in her own right.
  Early researchers recognized ichthyosaurs as marine reptiles, but major aspects of their anatomy and behavior needed to be resolved. They were frequently portrayed as leaving the water to bask on rocks and with straight tails.
context_section_description: 1851
  Gideon Mantell described the new species Ichthyosaurus longirostris based on fossil found in Whitby, Yorkshire. Its upper jaw was so much longer than its lower jaw that it resembled a swordfish.
  Meyer described the new genus and species Tholodus schmidi.
  1852
  Quenstedt described the species that would later become known as Contectopalatus atavus.
  1853
  Henry Coles reported that ichthyosaurs were covered by scales resembling tiny hairs or spines. However, these supposed scales were actually hooklets from the tentacles of the prehistoric cephalopods the ichthyosaur had eaten.
  Wagner described the species that would one day be known as Aegirosaurus leptospondylus.
  1854
  Sir Richard Owen inaccurately reconstructed Ichthyosaurus as straight-tailed and able to bask on rocks for an outdoor exhibit at Sydenham.
  1858
  Quenstedt described the species that would later come to be known as Stenopterygius quadriscissus  and Stenopterygius triscissus.
caption: Fossil of Ichthyosaurus (now Eurhinosaurus) longirostris
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A550", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2009:03:06 16:36:58", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1712", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6846", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "13/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:03:06 16:36:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:03:06 16:36:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "189/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "11/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2937", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1501", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2937", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1501", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1540", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "40960/3", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2304000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}