Conicet technician details extraction of 131-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil

Jonatan Kaluza, a technician from Conicet and the Azara Foundation, has detailed the complex extraction of ‘Fiona’, a 131-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil located near the Tyndall Glacier in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park.

Fiona is a four-meter-long pregnant female that remains one of the best-preserved specimens from the site. The fossil uniquely contains traces of her last meal and a fetus. The extraction process was highly demanding, requiring Kaluza to spend 32 days near the glacier to navigate extreme weather and difficult rock conditions.

The site is considered one of the world’s most extraordinary marine reptile deposits, with surveys identifying approximately 98 skeletons within a 20-square-kilometer area. These findings allow researchers to compare these specimens with ichthyosaur fossils found in Vaca Muerta, Neuquén, helping to reconstruct the ancient fauna of the Patagonian seas.