1851 steel engraving from Heck's iconography engraved by Henry Winkles and published in New York. It shows the american exhibition of "Dr." Albert Koch's 114 foot (34 metre) skeleton of a fossil 'sea serpent'. It was displayed as such in the US and later in Europe where it caused a sensation. This was before the dinosaur reconstruction exhibitions of the crystal palace,or any accurate reconstructions of articulated dinosaurs had been attempted. Later Hydrarchos was shown to be a forged composite of up to five individuals primarily of the fossil whale Basilosaurus - at the time believed to be reptilian (hence 'saurus'). Sir Richard Owen earlier showed Basilosaurus was actually a mammal and renamed it Zeuglodon - a synonym which is sometimes preferred but scientifically does not have primacy | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Stewart, Paul D. |
Taille de l’image : | 5623 px × 3108 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |