Stratum.black
Stenopterygius — Stenopterygius
Stenopterygius — Esben Horn and team, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Marine reptile

Stenopterygius

Ichthyosaur

Stenopterygius is the dolphin-shaped ichthyosaur of the Holzmaden Posidonia Shale, preserved in hundreds of skeletons, some with body outlines and embryos. Complete prepared skeletons on slabs sell for tens of thousands to several hundred thousand; isolated vertebrae, paddles and teeth are affordable. Holzmaden ichthyosaurs are prepared by air scribe over months, and body outlines and missing bones are sometimes painted in, so ask what is original.

PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderIchthyosauria
FamilyStenopterygiidae
GroupMarine reptile
Size2–4 m
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorJaekel 1904· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Chordata › Reptilia › Ichthyosauria › NO_FAMILY_SPECIFIED· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)184–171 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences47· Paleobiology Database

Photographs

Stenopterygius — Stenopterygius quadricissus (Quenstedt, 1858)
Stenopterygius quadricissus (Quenstedt, 1858) — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0
Stenopterygius — Stenopterygius sp
Stenopterygius sp — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0
Stenopterygius — Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Quenstedt 1858) (NHMUK PV R 3300)
Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Quenstedt 1858) (NHMUK PV R 3300) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Stenopterygius" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/stenopterygius. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-stenopterygius,
  title        = {Stenopterygius},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/stenopterygius}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons, smithsonian, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.