In 2007 began the research, led by German paleontologists from the University of Heidelberg and the Natural History Museum of Karlsruhe, as well as a paleobiologist of the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the INACH, also with the cooperation of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF).
The scientists conducted three major findings in the Tyndall Glacier area: an ichthyosaur with two embryos inside, traces of bone marrow (soft tissue, something quite rare in the world) and a Jurassic ichthyosaur (199 to 145 million years) much older than the others found in the area. These developments positioned the site as a new paleontological point of reference in the world, it is now the most important place for Cretaceous ichthyosaurs due to the number of individuals found, from babies to adults over 5 meters, as for having at four different species at least, and the finding of preserved bone marrow.
Ichthyosaurs were reptiles that lived over 150 million years in the planet seas, while dinosaurs ruled the land. The first appeared during the Triassic (250 million years ago) and reached their greatest diversity in the Jurassic, they began the extinction during the Cretaceous (90 million years ago). They resembled today's dolphins at first glance and its size could reach 15meters in some cases. Although they breathed atmospheric air, unlike today's reptiles that have to leave the water to lay their eggs, anatomy and adaptation to the marine environment allowed them to incubate the eggs internally and give birth in the water.
Torres del Paine, Ichthyosaur, fossils, Tyndall Glacier, Jurassic, Cretaceous
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