Ichthyosaurus

The Ichthyosaurus appears here both in a brief account of its discovery and in a nineteenth-century illustration that places it within a popular work on natural history. The available details connect the creature to Mary Anning and to an image captioned Dwarfs of German Legend Baring the Ichthyosaurus.

Discovery

The entry reports that Mary Anning, identified as the Fossil Woman of Lyme Regis, discovered the first Ichthyosaurus in 1810. This provides a specific historical point of reference for the creature, though no further details about the discovery or the fossil are given.

Illustration and Caption

The illustration associated with the entry is identified by the caption Dwarfs of German Legend Baring the Ichthyosaurus. The caption brings German legend and the creature together in the image’s framing; the available description does not specify further visual details.

Publication Context

The illustration is from F.A. Pouchet, M.D.’s The Universe, or, The Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Small, described as a popular nineteenth-century introduction to natural history. The cited edition is the ninth, published in 1886 by Blackie & Son, with addresses at Old Bailey, E.C., Glasgow, and Edinburgh. This places the Ichthyosaurus image within a widely framed natural-history presentation rather than providing additional information about the animal itself.