‘So cool’ Remains of giant marine reptile found by schoolgirl Ruby go on show
FOSSILISED remains of what may be the largest known marine reptile that ever lived were found on a Somerset beach by a schoolgirl and her dad – and are now set to go on show at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
Father and daughter Justin and Ruby Reynolds made the “amazing” discovery while searching for fossils on Blue Anchor beach near Minehead.
Ruby, then aged 11, found the first giant chunk of jawbone in May 2020.
Now aged 15, she is a proud published science paper co-author.
Experts identified the fossils as coming from the jaws of a new species of ichthyosaur, a type of prehistoric marine reptile, that would have been more than 80 feet (25 metres) long – twice the length of a double decker bus – and lived during the Late Triassic period over 200 million years ago.
Realising they had discovered something significant, the Reynolds family contacted ichthyosaur expert, Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Manchester.
Dr Lomax, who is also a research fellow at the University of Bristol, contacted Paul de la Salle, an experienced fossil collector who had found a first giant jawbone in May 2016 further along the Somerset coast at Lilstock.
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.
“I became very excited, to say the least.”
Justin and Ruby, together with
Paul, Dr Lomax, and several family members, visited the site to hunt for more pieces of the rare discovery.
Over time, the team found additional pieces of the same jaw which fit together perfectly, like an ancient jigsaw.
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.”
The last piece of bone was recovered in October 2022.
Dr Lomax’s research team established that the jaw bones belong to a new species of giant ichthyosaur that would have been about the size of a blue whale.
Comparing the two examples of the same bone with the same unique features from the same geologic time zone supports their identifications.
The team have called the new genus and species Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning “giant fish lizard of the Severn.”
Dr Lomax said the bones are around 202 million years old, dating to the end of the Triassic in a time known as the Rhaetian.
He said that during that period the gigantic ichthyosaurs swam the seas while dinosaurs walked on land.
Ichthyotitan is not the world’s first giant ichthyosaur, but experts say the Somerset discoveries are “unique” among those known to science.
The very first ichthyosaur brought to the attention of science was discovered in 1811 and 1812 by Mary Anning and Joseph Anning, in Lyme Regis, Dorset, along the Jurassic Coast.
Ruby said: “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.”
Now Ruby, Justin and Paul’s discoveries will go on display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
Dr Lomax added: “This research has been ongoing for almost eight years.
“It is quite remarkable to think that gigantic, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around what was the UK during the Triassic Period.
“These jawbones provide tantalising evidence that perhaps one day a complete skull or skeleton of one of these giants might be found. You never know.”