Giant ichthyosaur fossil found in England

Giant 'Ichthyosaur' Fossil Found in UK

It was a fossil of a marine reptile "Ichthyosaur" 180 million years ago. A man performing routine pond drainage and maintenance work at a nature reserve in England has reportedly found the largest and most complete skeletal remains of an ichthyosaur in British history. This is the first time an ichthyosaur of this species has been found in Britain. [See all images] Fossil of giant 'ichthyosaur' discovered in England

A Rare Discovery That Will Reassess Its Range

According to a press release from the University of Manchester, Joe Davis, Conservation Team Leader at the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, announced that the 2021 I think I found this fossil on the moon. The site of discovery was within the Rutland Water Nature Reserve, owned and operated by the water company Anglian Water. Most of the ichthyosaur dig sites in England are along the coast or at sites of quarrying and new road construction, so inland Rutland is an unexpected place. Dean Lomax, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester who led the excavation, said, "For the British paleontological community, this find is like finding a complete Tyrannosaurus in the Badlands National Park in the United States, only this Jurassic behemoth. Most of all, it was found in the Rutland Nature Reserve," said a press release. "It's a truly unique excavation and one of the greatest finds in British paleontology history," he said. At 10 meters long, the fossil is indeed the largest ichthyosaur ever found in the UK. With fossilized bones from tip to caudal fin, it is also the most complete ichthyosaur fossil excavated in the country. This is the first time a Temnodontosaurus trigonodon species has been discovered in the UK and expands its known geographical range.

Exhaustive analysis to come

Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles (not dinosaurs) that appeared about 250 million years ago, lived for 160 million years, and then disappeared. is. This creature is a classic example of convergent evolution and resembles a dolphin, ranging in length from 1 to 25 meters. Jurassic Rutland is a shallow sea where scientists have unearthed ichthyosaur bones since they were first excavated in England about 200 years ago. The Jurassic soil covering this specimen was 181.5 to 182 million years old. The fossil skull is 2 meters long and weighs about 1 ton. Excavations also found hundreds of squid-like creatures, gastropods, crustaceans, and vertebrae of other ichthyosaurs. The excavation and analysis brought together experts from the Horniman Museum, the University of Birmingham and others, and volunteers from the Peterborough Geology and Paleontology Group. The excavation will take place from August to September 2021, and thousands of photographs were taken to create a 3D model of the ichthyosaur using photogrammetry. The bones of the giant ichthyosaur were covered in protective plaster before being transported to a safe location. The process of removing the plaster from the skeleton, cleaning it, and preparing the specimen for more thorough analysis is expected to take 18 months. That is, if the necessary funds can be raised. According to a press release, Anglian Water is now seeking financial support to protect the fossils and "allow them to leave a legacy in Rutland where they can share their legacy with the public." By the way, the excavation work in Rutland was reportedly featured on the BBC program Digging for Britain, which aired on January 11, local time. Source: The University of Manchester,

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