A historic discovery in the history of palaeontology has been made by British scientists, referring to the fossil of a giant prehistoric "sea dragon" found in Rutland, Britain.
As the British newspaper The Guardian reports, it is a fossil of an ichthyosaur, about 180 million years old.
According to experts, it is the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in the UK.
Its skeleton is about ten metres long and its skull weighs about a tonne, according to Joe Davis of Leicestershire and Rutland's Wildlife Foundation.
The discovery was made during drainage on an island in Rutland lagoon in February 2021.
The first ichthyosaurs, dubbed "sea dragons" because they had very large teeth and eyes, were discovered by fossil hunter and paleontologist Mary Ening in the early 19th century.
However, as Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist who has studied "sea dragons", points out, despite the many ichthyosaur fossils found in Britain, "we believe that the Rutland sea dragon is the largest skeleton ever found in the UK. It is a truly unprecedented discovery and one of the greatest finds in British palaeontological history."
Ichthyosaurs, which were marine reptiles, made their maiden appearance around 250 million years ago and their extinction dates back to 90 million years ago. They were not specific in size: that is, they could have been between one and 25 metres long.
For Mark Evans, a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey who has been studying the fossils of the Rutland and Leicestershire reptiles for over 20 years, from the first glance at the fossil, one could estimate that it was the largest ichthyosaur discovered in the area.
"It is a very important discovery both nationally and internationally, but also of huge significance to the people of Rutland and the wider region."
"We conducted a very complex operation to uncover, record and collect this important specimen safely," said Nigel Larkin, Conservator of Palaeontology, for his part."
Source: Proto Thema
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