The largest and most complete skeleton ever found in Britain has been discovered after the draining and maintenance of a lagoon. It is the first species of its kind to be found in the country.
The fossil was discovered by Joe Davis, a leader of the team at the Wildlife Trust. The nature reserve is owned and operated by Anglian Water. Most discoveries of icthyosaurs in England tend to be along the coastline or the result of quarrying and the building of new roads, so this location is lucky.
In the world of British palaeontology, the discovery is like finding a complete tyrannosaurus rex out in the wilderness of America. The leader of the expedition is a paleontologist at the University of Manchester. It is one of the greatest finds in British history.
It is the largest animal ever found in Britain. It is the most complete Ichthyosaur fossil found in the country. The first of its kind to be discovered in Britain, it is called the Temnodontosaurus trigonodon.
Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that first appeared 250 million years ago and have been extinct for 160 million years. The creatures were varied and ranged in size from 3 to 22 feet (1 to 25 meters) long. The region where the animals first emerged was under water during the time of the dinosaurs, and scientists in England have been finding the bones there for 200 years.
The specimen was found in a clay that was between 181.5 million and 182 million years old. The skull is over 2 meters long and weighs over a ton. The excavation yielded hundreds of squid-like organisms, as well as other creatures from other ichthyosaurs.
Teams from Horniman Museum, the University of Birmingham, and the Peterborough Geological and Palaeontological Group helped with the excavation and analysis. The specimen was excavated from August to September of 2021, during which time thousands of photos were taken and a photogrammetric analysis was conducted to build a 3D model of it.
The bones from the giantosaur were wrapped in protective plaster casts and transported to a safe location. Scientists will remove the plaster, clean the bones, and prepare the specimen for more thorough analysis in a process that is expected to take 18 months. That is assuming the team gets the cash. According to the press release, Anglian Water is currently seeking funding to preserve the remains and to ensure that it can remain in Rutland where its legacy can be shared with the general public.
An episode of the series Digging for Britain will feature the excavation of the Rutland Sea Dragon, and it will air on January 11.
A previous version of the article stated that the fossil is the largest ever found in Britain, but many larger irrthyosaurs have been discovered elsewhere in the world.
A sea monster is in the belly of an even bigger sea monster.
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