On a beach in Somerset they were found remains of a sea monster. The discovery was made by a little girl, Ruby, together with her father Justin Reynolds. The pair, originally from Braunton, Devon, found fossils of a jaw belonging to an ichthyosaur. It is a marine reptile that dates back to the prehistoric era and, according to estimates, was an animal more than 25 meters long.
The discovery dates back to 2020 and gave rise to other searches which made it possible to identify other pieces of the giant jaw. However, it all began four years earlier on the coast of Lilstock, where Paul de la Salle discovered other fossils of the same specimen.
The discovery of the remains of the largest known marine reptile
According to a recently published study, the remains found in 2016 and 2020 belong to a sea monster lived more than 200 million years ago. According to experts, it would be one of the largest animals that ever existed, as fearsome as the tyrannosaurus.
The theory according to which it was a specimen over 25 meters long it is based on the study of the fossils found: one more than one meter long, the other two metres. These are dimensions that are very close to – and could exceed – those of some whales existing today. A striking example are blue whales which can reach 30 meters in length.
“It’s extraordinary to think that giant ichthyosaurs the size of a blue whale were swimming in the oceans at the time dinosaurs walked on land in what is now the UK, during the Triassic,” explained Dean Lomax, an expert on the species.
Ruby Reynolds, 11 years old at the time of the discovery, has been compared to Mary Anning, a 19th-century British paleontologist who made her first discovery at the age of 12 with the remains of an ichthyosaur. “I think Mary Anning was an incredible paleontologist and it’s great to be compared to her,” said Ruby Reynolds.
“Working with industry experts was an incredible, enlightening and fun experience. We are proud to be part of the team and to be co-authors of a scientific text”, added Justin Reynolds.
What are ichthyosaurs, the true “sea monsters” of the past
The ichthyosaurs, a name that means “fish lizards” in Greek, lived in the Mesozoic era. It was the evolution of never-identified land reptiles that returned to the sea. Very present in the Upper Triassic and in the early Jurassic periods, they became extinct with the arrival of the Plesiosauria and for reasons still unknown.
The first complete skeletons of this sea monster were discovered in the 19th century, subsequently parts of perfectly preserved soft tissues were also found. The various species of ichthyosaurs ranged in size from one to 16 metres: over 50 genera have been identified and it cannot be ruled out that more will be discovered in the future. In some ways, it is an animal similar to the sea dragon.
The appearance resembles that of dolphins: their limbs evolved into flippers which – sometimes – also contained fingers and phalanges. Some species were also characterized by a dorsal fin. They had a pointed snout and conical teeth to better capture even the smallest prey.
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