Scientists have discovered what was probably the largest marine reptile ever to swim in the seas – a creature longer than two buses, the BBC reports.
The creature lived about 202 million years ago, alongside the dinosaurs.
Its fossilized jaw was found in 2016 by a fossil hunter on a beach in Somerset, UK. In 2020, an 11-year-old girl and her father found another similar jaw.
Experts now say the fossils come from two giant ichthyosaur reptiles, which could have been 25 meters long.
This is bigger than a giant pliosaur whose skull was found embedded in the cliffs of Dorset and featured in David Attenborough’s documentary The Giant Sea Monster.
“Based on the size of the jaws – one of them over one meter and the other two meters – we can calculate that the whole animal would have been about 25 meters long, about to blue whales, according to Dr. Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol, who wrote the Science article published on Wednesday.
But he says more evidence, such as a full skull and skeleton, is needed to confirm the exact size of the creature, as only a few fragments have been found so far.
The giant ichthyosaur died out in a mass extinction, and the ichthyosaurs that lived after that never reached enormous size again, he said.
An impressive new discovery
The first proof of the existence of this creature appeared in 2016, when the fossil hunter Paul de la Salle was researching the beaches of Somerset. He has been collecting fossils for 25 years, after being inspired by the famous fossil collector Steve Etches. Searching the beach with his wife, Carol, he saw what turned out to be the discovery of his life – the first known jaw of this giant marine reptile.
When he spoke to Dean Lomax, they suspected that this might be a major breakthrough. They published their findings in 2018, but wanted more evidence to understand how big the creature had been.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed for more discoveries,” says Dean. In 2020, father and daughter Justin and Ruby Reynolds found what Dean was looking for, 10km down the coast at Blue Anchor.
“I was very impressed – very, very excited. “I knew at that point I had a gigantic second jaw from one of these massive ichthyosaurs, just like Paul’s,” says Dean.
Paul rushed to the beach and helped them discover more. „I dug through all the thick mud. After about an hour, my shovel hit something solid and this bone emerged perfectly preserved, says the paleontologist.
The team, as well as family members, continued to search for fragments of the second jaw. The last piece was found in 2022.
A new species
The discovery gave them more evidence to estimate its size. Now they have concluded that the huge animal is a new species of ichthyosaur, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis.
Dean wrote the last scientific paper with Ruby Reynolds. The specimen she found could even be named Ruby, says the paleontologist.
The specimen Paul found sat in his garage for three years while the team analyzed it. It will soon be on public display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
“I will be a little sad to say goodbye. I got to know him and studied him in such intense detail. It’s a relief because I won’t have to worry about him as much,” says Paul.
Dean says the discovery highlights how important hobbyist fossil collectors are.
„Families and all kinds of people can make amazing discoveries. You don’t have to be a world expert. As long as you have that bit of patience and a keen eye, you can make a discovery, says Dean.
Publisher: IC
