Girl’s fossil find is reptile to rival blue whale
THE bones of what is believed to be the largest known marine reptile were found on a beach by an amateur fossil-hunting father and daughter.
Palaeontologists think the remains are from a giant ichthyosaur, a reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. Fossilised pieces of jawbone, some two metres long, were uncovered on the Somerset coast in May 2020, and are thought to be part of the creature that measured 82 feet (25 metres ) long.
Justin Reynolds and his daughter Ruby from Braunton, Devon, made the discovery while hunting for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor.
The bones are around 202 million years old and date to the end of the Triassic Period in a time known as the Rhaetian.
Giant ichthyosaurs, thought to be the size of a blue whale, inhabited the seas during this period, while dinosaurs roamed the land.
Ruby, then aged 11, found one chunk of giant bone before the pair searched for more pieces together. After realising the significance of the fossils, they approached Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester.
Dr Lomax contacted Paul de la Salle, a fossil collector who had found a similar giant jawbone in May 2016, further along the coast at Lilstock.
Mr Reynolds said: “When Ruby and I found the first two pieces we were very excited as we realised that this was something important and unusual.
“When I found the back part of the jaw, I was thrilled because that is one of the defining parts of Paul’s earlier discovery.” Ruby added: “It was so cool to discover part of this gigantic ichthyosaur. I am very proud to have played a part in a scientific discovery like this.”
Dr Lomax, said: “I was amazed by the find. In 2018, my team [including Paul de la Salle] studied and described Paul’s giant jawbone and we had hoped that one day another would come to light.
“This new specimen is more complete, better preserved, and shows that we now have two of these giant bones – called a surangular – that have a unique shape and structure.”