A jawbone discovered by a father-daughter fossil-collecting team on a beach in Somerset, England, has been identified as belonging to a newfound species of marine reptile. This remarkable find suggests that this creature may have been one of the largest marine reptiles to have ever roamed Earth's oceans, potentially rivaling the size of the blue whale, the largest known animal on the planet.
The jawbone, known as a surangular, measured over 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length and is believed to have come from a creature named Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning 'giant fish lizard of the Severn' in Latin. Researchers estimate that this ichthyosaur was more than 82 feet (25 meters) long, equivalent to the length of two city buses.
The jawbone was first discovered in May 2020 by Justin and Ruby Reynolds while they were searching for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor, Somerset. Ruby, who was 11 years old at the time, spotted the initial piece of bone, leading to the subsequent discovery of additional fragments by her and her father.
This significant finding has the potential to provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of this prehistoric giant and the ancient ocean ecosystem it inhabited. Marcello Perillo, a graduate student of evolutionary paleobiology at the University of Bonn in Germany and a coauthor of the report detailing the discovery, believes that this discovery will contribute to our understanding of this fascinating marine reptile.
The research paper describing the jawbone discovery was published in the journal PLOS One, shedding light on the immense size and significance of this ancient marine reptile that once roamed the Earth's oceans millions of years ago.
