The Discovery’s Ichthyosaur

50-foot ichthyosaur sculpture on display at The Discovery

Ichthyosaurs were a marine reptile that had four flippers, a tail, a long skull and sharp teeth. They first appeared in the fossil record during the Triassic period, about 250 million years ago and went extinct early in the Late Cretaceous period, about 95 million years ago. Ichthyosaur fossils have been found worldwide, including in Nevada. Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in central Nevada is home to North America’s most abundant concentration of Ichthyosaurs fossils including two nearly intact fossils that were discovered in 1928. The Nevada State Legislature designated ichthyosaur fossils as the state fossil in 1977.

The “ichthyosaur puppet” on display at The Discovery is a life-size, plywood replica of Nevada’s state fossil, the Shonisaurus popularis, or giant ichthyosaur. This 50-foot sculpture was originally installed at the Burning Man arts festival in 2013. It is made of layers of plywood, cut, glued, and shaped with grinders. Originated by artist Jerry Snyder, t was built at The Generator in Sparks, Nevada by Jerry Snyder and a large crew of volunteers.

Why call it a puppet?

When it was on the playa during the annual Burning Man festival in 2013, this ichthyosaur sculpture was a working marionette. Festival attendees could walk up to it and pull ropes to make the mouth and fins move, or make the whole creature “swim.”

Sea Dragons of Nevada

The Discovery’s ichthyosaur sculpture is included as a destination in the “Nevada Paleontology Passport,” a free guide available at the Nevada Museum of Art. The passport was created as a supplement to the Deep Time: Sea Dragons of Nevada exhibition which features a blend of paleontology, art, history, and design, and explores the rise and fall of these ancient sea creatures. The exhibition is on display through January 11, 2026.