A team of researchers, led by Dean R. Lomax from the University of Bristol and the University of Manchester in the UK, recently published a study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. They discovered a new species of ichthyosaur, a type of ancient marine reptile, that was likely the largest marine reptile ever formally described.
Over the past few years, Lomax and his research team found and collected fragments of an ichthyosaur jawbone from the Westbury Mudstone Formation in Somerset, UK. The new bone was similar in size and shape to another jawbone found in the same rock formation, just a few kilometers away. The researchers now believe these two jawbones belong to a previously undescribed species of ichthyosaur, a group of huge reptiles that lived in the oceans during the age of the dinosaurs.
Based on the size of these bones, the new species, named Ichthyotitan severnensis, could have measured up to 25 meters long – twice the length of a city bus! However, since the description of this new species is based only on limited bone fragments, the study authors note that more paleontological evidence is needed to confirm the likely size of I. severnensis.
Ichthyosaurs first evolved in the early Triassic period, about 250 million years ago. Within a few million years, some ichthyosaurs had evolved to be at least 15 meters long, and by the late Triassic (around 200 million years ago), the largest ichthyosaurs had evolved, including the newly described I. severnensis.
But this reign of giant ichthyosaurs did not necessarily last long. While some species of ichthyosaurs continued to roam the oceans for millions of years, these “gigantic ichthyosaurs” are believed to have gone extinct during the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event around 200 million years ago, and this unique group of marine reptiles never again reached such massive sizes.
As lead author Dean Lomax explains, his team had hoped to uncover another giant ichthyosaur jawbone like the one they studied in 2018. This new, more complete specimen shows they now have two of these unique, giant “surangular” bones, providing tantalizing evidence that complete skulls or skeletons of these ocean giants may one day be found.
Sources
Public Library of Science | Lomax DR, de la Salle P, Perillo M, Reynolds J, Reynolds R, Waldron JF (2024) The last giants: New evidence for giant Late Triassic (Rhaetian) ichthyosaurs from the UK. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0300289. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300289
Share this article:
Discover more from LBV Magazine English Edition
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Paleontologists Discover 240-Million-Year-Old "Chinese Dragon" Scientists have unveiled a remarkably complete fossil of a specialized reptile named Dinocephalosaurus that swam the oceans 240 million years ago during the Triassic Period. This bizarre creature measured over…
Researchers Find Oldest Fossilized Skin, Predating Dinosaurs Researchers have identified a fragment of fossilized skin that is at least 21 million years older than previously described skin fossils. The skin belonged to an early Paleozoic reptile species…
Traditionally, the history of Rome begins with its founding by Romulus, a descendant of the exiled Trojan Aeneas, and the establishment of a monarchy under which seven kings succeeded one…
The term Astur-Cantabrian Wars refers to the long conflict that the Romans waged along the Spanish Cantabrian coast for a decade, between 29 and 19 B.C. The subjugation of Hispania’s…
In the municipality of Iglesias, in the southwest of the island of Sardinia, and near the town of Nebida, lies one of the world’s most remarkable feats of engineering: a…
Throughout the centuries, the mythical Stone Tower has been a fascinating enigma for geographers, historians, and archaeologists worldwide. This location is mentioned in Claudius Ptolemy’s Geography as the midpoint on…
Statues don’t talk, evidently, and they never have, except when some clever priest of Antiquity used a hollow in the stone to deliver whatever message he was interested in. But…
The name Marcus Valerius Laevinus doesn’t mean much to most history enthusiasts, not even to those interested in Ancient Rome, as he remains overshadowed by other contemporaries who achieved lasting…
In the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, between the Late Neolithic and the Copper Age, a series of ritual objects emerged that have fascinated archaeologists and historians for over a…
In the earliest moments of the universe, nearly 14 billion years ago, a phenomenon both fascinating and mysterious occurred. At the very moment of the Big Bang, an unknown force…
A recent archaeological study challenges conventional notions about the origin of the Protogeometric ceramic style in Greece, suggesting that its starting point was not Athens, as traditionally believed, but the…
A team of archaeologists led by Guillaume Charloux of France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has revealed details of an ancient urban settlement in northern Saudi Arabia. According to…
Paleontologists have made a fascinating discovery in New York State: fossil remains of an ancient species of arthropod that existed approximately 450 million years ago, whose preservation is exceptional thanks…
A recent analysis by archaeologist Nicoletta Antognelli Michel of the Technical University of Darmstadt has led to a groundbreaking interpretation in the field of Mycenaean iconography. Her research suggests that…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.