{"id":3543,"date":"2022-01-26T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=3543"},"modified":"2022-01-13T02:58:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T02:58:33","slug":"uk-scientists-dig-up-one-of-its-biggest-ichthyosaurs-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/uk-scientists-dig-up-one-of-its-biggest-ichthyosaurs-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Scientists Dig Up One of Its Biggest Ichthyosaurs Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It hasn\u2019t been that long since we last heard of ichthyosaurs in online science discourse; just a few days ago, researchers reported on a major ichthyosaur find from the ancient seas of what is now Montana<\/a>. Now, a research team from the United Kingdom is ready to shake things up again\u2014and shake things up they will, given the sheer size of what they found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur specimen, the \u2018Rutland Ichthyosaur\u2019 or the \u2018Rutland Sea Dragon,\u2019 is the biggest complete ichthyosaur ever found in Britain in over 200 years of collecting these things scientifically,\u201d according to excavation lead paleontologist Dean Lomax in a statement of ScienceAlert<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ichthyosaurs, much like this one on display in the Natural History Museum in London, are ancient reptiles that dominated the seas for several million years. Their numbers were likely in decline by the start of the Cretaceous Period, however. (Wikimedia Commons, 2012) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This particular \u201csea dragon\u201d was found just sticking out of the mud after conservationist Joe Davis, of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Reserve, found an exposed jawbone back in February of 2021 at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve. From there, the team carefully excavated the ichthyosaur out of the mud, resulting in a truly massive 10-m (32.8-ft) long fossil, complete with an intact backbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis continued in an official statement<\/a>: \u201cThe find has been absolutely fascinating and a real career highlight, it\u2019s great to learn so much from the discovery and to think that this amazing creature was once swimming in seas above us, and now once again Rutland Water is a haven for wetland wildlife albeit on a smaller scale!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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