Fossil Dug Up Over 50 Years Ago Declared As A New Ichthyosaur Species
- 8 years ago
A skeleton of a prehistoric creature unearthed from a Nottinghamshire, U.K. quarry more than a half a century ago recently got a closer look.
It turned out to belong to a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur, the aquatic creatures that swam in the waters at the time dinosaurs were wandering the Earth.
Newly recovered fossils are certainly exciting, but often times the ones found a while back are every bit as valuable.
A skeleton of a prehistoric creature unearthed from a Nottinghamshire, U.K. quarry more than a half a century ago recently got a closer look.
It turned out to belong to a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur, the aquatic creatures that swam in the waters at the time dinosaurs were wandering the Earth.
In 1951, the roughly 200-million-year-old specimen was added to the collection of the New Walk Museum in Leicester.
Though impressively complete, the fossil was largely overlooked for study due to some damage likely sustained just prior to the reptile’s death.
Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and Honorary Scientist at the University of Manchester, examined the long-overlooked bones.
Lomax said, “When I first saw this specimen, I knew it was unusual.”
In addition to being declared as a new species, the ichthyosaur also earned the distinction of being the only one of its age found in a U.K. area other than Dorset and Somerset.
It turned out to belong to a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur, the aquatic creatures that swam in the waters at the time dinosaurs were wandering the Earth.
Newly recovered fossils are certainly exciting, but often times the ones found a while back are every bit as valuable.
A skeleton of a prehistoric creature unearthed from a Nottinghamshire, U.K. quarry more than a half a century ago recently got a closer look.
It turned out to belong to a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur, the aquatic creatures that swam in the waters at the time dinosaurs were wandering the Earth.
In 1951, the roughly 200-million-year-old specimen was added to the collection of the New Walk Museum in Leicester.
Though impressively complete, the fossil was largely overlooked for study due to some damage likely sustained just prior to the reptile’s death.
Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and Honorary Scientist at the University of Manchester, examined the long-overlooked bones.
Lomax said, “When I first saw this specimen, I knew it was unusual.”
In addition to being declared as a new species, the ichthyosaur also earned the distinction of being the only one of its age found in a U.K. area other than Dorset and Somerset.