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Sea dragons discovered - 24th January 2022
Scientists have discovered the bones of an ancient sea dragon. A whole skeleton was found in a UK nature reserve. The 180 million year old ichthyosaur is a great discovery.
The ichthyosaur fossil measures 10 metres in length. It was discovered under a reservoir while it was empty for maintenance.
Nature reserve employee Joe Davis made the original bone discovery. He noticed some unusual stones which were lying in the mud. Then he saw part of an animal skull. It looked like a dinosaur, so Davis contacted the local council.
In fact, the ichthyosaur was a sea reptile which lived between 250 million and 90 million years ago. It's physically similar to modern dolphins. But with large teeth and huge eyes, it got the name sea dragon.
A team of fossil experts visited the nature reserve. They confirmed the animal's identity. Dr Dean Lomax said it was "one of the greatest finds" ever in Britain. Its location, 50 kilometres from the coast, was "very unusual".
Central England had been underwater 200 million years ago. When the reservoir was built, workers found some ichthyosaur bones. But these were from much smaller animals. This is the first full skeleton found on the site.
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