Father and daughter discover giant marine reptile

an ancient fossil A girl and her father discover a creature that may be one of the largest animals on Earth on a beach in England.

Researchers said in a recent study that the bone fossil, known as “Surag”, comes from an ichthyosaur reptile that lived in the sea. Based on its size, compared to the same bone from the closely related ichthyosaur, the researchers estimated the creature’s length to be between 22 and 26 meters. They named it Ichthyotitan severnensis.

This would make it possibly the largest known ocean reptile. Its size is close to the largest living whales today. The blue whale is considered the largest animal in history, reaching a length of about 30 meters.

Marine reptiles lived in the world’s oceans while dinosaurs lived on land. Ichthyosaurs disappeared 90 million years ago. They come in many sizes. These creatures eat fish and other sea animals.

However, the fish Titan is known only through its two jaw bones. The lower jaw forms the lower part of the mouth.

Ruby Reynolds and her father Justin Reynolds discovered one of the bones at Blue Anchor in Somerset in 2020. Another bone was from another individual fish titan found off the Somerset coast of Lilstoke in 2016.

Dean Lomax is the lead author of the study recently published in PLOS ONE.Lomax said: “It’s quite excellence think hugeDuring the Triassic Period, when dinosaurs walked the land, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs swam the ocean in what is now Britain.

The Triassic Period describes a period of more than 200 million years ago.

Ruby Reynolds was 11 years old when she and her father discovered fossilized horn bones on the beach. Ruby continued to search the area and discovered a second piece – much larger than the first – partially buried underground. They then contacted ichthyosaur expert Lomax, and more bone parts were excavated.

Ruby’s contribution to the discovery has led to comparisons with Mary Anning. Anning was a 19th-century British fossil hunter who discovered ichthyosaur fossils when she was 12 years old.

“I think Mary Anning was an incredible Paleontologistsit’s awesome to be compared to her,” Ruby said.

Justin Reynolds added: “Working with these experts has been an amazing and interesting experience and we are proud to be part of the team and co-authors of a scientific paper naming a new kind and genus.

Fossil collector Paul de la Salle discovered the remains in 2016, now identified as Fish Titan.

This large marine reptile is a member of the giant ichthyosaur family Shastasauridae. These creatures lived 13 million years later than other ichthyosaurs. They survived until the end of the Triassic, about 201 million years ago, when a worldwide event caused the disappearance of many species of animals.

No other fish titan fossils have yet been found. But researchers have been able to guess what it looked like based on other members of its family, including Sauniosaurus from British Columbia, Canada.

Study co-author Jimmy Waldron used the word “humility” to describe the findings, meaning making someone feel less important or proud.

“Discoveries like this create incredible moments that make us humbled by our size and our place in the world,” Waldron said.

I’m John Russell.

Will Dunham reported this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for the VOA English Learning Channel.

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words from this story

fossil noun the fossilized remains of a plant or animal that lived in the distant past

ocean —Adjective of or relating to the ocean or the plants and animals that live in the ocean

excellence adjective unusual or surprising; touching

huge adjective big

Paleontologists noun the science of studying fossils of plants and animals from long ago

kind noun a group of similar animals or plants that produce young animals or plants

genus noun a group of related animals or plants that includes several or many different species