vast A prehistoric “sea dragon” just discovered in the Midlands of central England, described as “One of the greatest discoveries in the history of British paleontology”Connected Guardian.

“The approximately 180 million year old ichthyosaur, with a skeleton about 10 meters long and a skull weighing about a ton, is the largest and most complete fossil of its species ever discovered in the world. UK”The British daily notes.

It was found incidentally in February 2021 during the routine emptying of a lagoon in the Rutland Water man-made reservoir. But then it took several months to dig it up and identify it.

the first ichthyosaurs, “They are called ‘sea dragons’ because they have very large teeth and very large eyes, they were discovered in the early days by the paleontologist and paleontologist Mary Anning. nineteenth^And century”, Reminiscent of everyday life. These marine reptiles appeared about 250 million years ago and died out 90 million years ago. Their size ranged from 1 to over 25 meters, and they were similar to dolphins in overall body shape.

first complete skeleton

Two incomplete and much smaller ichthyosaurs were discovered during the formation of the Rutland Water Reservoir in the 1970s, but this is the first complete skeleton identified for this species.

For Mark Evans, a British Antarctic Survey paleontologist who has been studying fossil reptiles from the Jurassic of Rutland and Leicestershire for more than twenty years, “From the first glimpse of the partially exposed fossil, it was clear that it was the largest ichthyosaur discovered in the region.,, He comments:

However, it wasn’t until after our exploratory digging that we realized it was too full by the end of the tail. This is a very important discovery both nationally and internationally, but also for the people of Rutland and the surrounding areas.”