Live birth was always assumed for ichthyosaurs, because with their paddles they could never have manoeuvred on land to lay eggs like turtles do. As reptiles, they produced cleidoic eggs, but they were entirely aquatic and their eggs developed inside the mother. Once more, evidence came from the early Jurassic of Germany, where several fine examples clearly show embryos inside the rib cage of the adult. Other examples exist of the young actually being born. They came out tail first. No doubt, some complication of birth had killed both mother and offspring together.