Extremely Rare 180-Million-Year-Old Giant “Sea Dragon” Fossil Discovered In UK

In Leicestershire, the fossilized bones of Britain’s biggest ichthyosaur, sometimes known as a Sea Dragon, were discovered.

The 30-foot skeleton of the dolphin-like ichthyosaur was discovered in Rutland Water, Rutland, by experts.

The ichthyosaur specimen measured more than 32 feet long and possessed a 6-foot-long, one-ton cranium. It existed around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic period when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

“It’s the most complete and larger than any dinosaur skeleton ever found here, so it’s a mega-find for so many reasons,” said paleontologist Dean Lomax, who oversaw the dig.

“It would have been right at the top of the food chain during this period.” It’s the ultimate apex predator, maybe the world’s largest animal at sea.” According to Anglian Water, which maintains the reservoir, two further partial and smaller ichthyosaurs were discovered on the site in the 1970s. Larger ichthyosaur fossils have been discovered beyond the United Kingdom, particularly in Canada, according to Lomax, however, such enormous remains are uncommon.

Ichthyosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles that resembled dolphins or sharks, were originally unearthed on the Jurassic Coast of southern England approximately 200 years ago. 90 million years ago, they vanished off the face of the earth.