Digging up ancient sea dragons - 24th January 2022

An ancient sea dragon fossil has been uncovered in a reservoir at a UK nature reserve. The large ichthyosaur has been described as "one of the greatest finds" ever made in the UK.

The 10 metre skeleton, which includes a one tonne skull, is a rare find. It was lying under an artificial reservoir in England's central, Midlands region. It's been dated by palaeontologists to around 180 million years ago.

The fossil was discovered by chance. Joe Davis, a conservation team leader at the nature reserve, was walking across the empty Rutland Water reservoir. Something sticking slightly out of the ground caught his attention. This turned out to be the creature's spine and part of its jawbone. Davis contacted the local authority to inform them that he'd found a dinosaur.

Instead, he'd discovered a rare example of the sea predator. The swimming reptiles, which were shaped like dolphins, existed between 250 million and 90 million years ago. They've been nicknamed sea dragons thanks to their enlarged eyes and huge, sharp teeth.

A team of palaeontologists led by ichthyosaur expert Dr Dean Lomax have now uncovered the whole skeleton. He described the discovery as "very unusual" due to the fossil's location 50 kilometres from the coast. However, 200 million years ago, sea levels were higher than today. The entire Rutland area was covered by ocean then.

Although this latest find of a complete fossil is highly significant, it's not the first at the Rutland Water site. During the reservoir's construction in the 1970s, two partial fossils of smaller ichthyosaurs were discovered.