Call me Riley...
Riley, the Brockport Sea Monster, is actually neither a sea monster nor a native of Brockport. It is a creature known as an ichthyosaur (ichthys = fish, sauria = lizard), an extinct marine reptile from the Mesozoic Era. Most Ichthyosaurs are thought to have been fast swimming predators, highly adapted for oceanic life. Despite their rapid diversification during the early Jurassic Period (about 200 million years ago), ichthyosaurs eventually declined in number and became extinct before the end of the Cretaceous (about 80 million years ago).
1998: The Excavation of Riley...
During July, 1998, Dr. Judy Massare(SUNY Brockport), Dr. Emily Buchholtz (Wellesley College) and William Wahl Jr. (Tate Geological Museum, Casper College, WY) excavated an ichthyosaur skeleton from the Sundance Formation of Natrona County, Wyoming. The specimen was discovered by Mike Ross, a volunteer at the Tate Museum, who also assisted in the excavation. Also participating were students Stephen Sperber (SUNY Brockport), Anne Marie Chomat (Wellesley College), and Jessica Scott (Wellesley College), as well as Tate Museum volunteers.
The Life of Riley...
The Sundance Formation consists of marine sandstones and shales that were deposited in an inland sea during the latter part of the Jurassic Period. Other vertebrates include plesiosaurs and fish. Invertebrates of the Sundance include abundant belemnoids, squid-like animals that may have been prey for the ichthyosaurs. Clams and crinoids ("sea lilies") were also common.
Although we cannot know for certain how Riley died, the images below created by paleoartist Russell Hawley show a possible scenario for its post-mortem history:
Riley comes to SUNY Brockport...
In the Fall of 1998, the skull and anterior vertebrae arrived at the SUNY Brockport Fossil Preparation Lab. Cradled in protective plaster jackets, each piece must be removed and carefully cleaned of sediment and concretion, a process which takes hours of time and a delicate touch. A variety of fossil preparation techniques are used, from dental picks to mini air-driven jackhammers, to acid baths. However the time and effort are well worth it: this specimen promises to be the most complete ichthyosaur known from the Sundance Formation, and includes a skull and complete lower jaw, a partial vertebral column, almost the entire shoulder girdle, and numerous ribs...
Watch as Riley is prepared...
