Rare ichthyosaur fossil found on English beach
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Two Belgian tourists discovered a 174-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil on a beach in Dorset, southern England.
Michel Plissart and Carine Christens found the fossil while walking near Bridport when they noticed a rock protruding from the sand. Closer inspection revealed bones emerging from the sandstone layer. Scientists from the University of Bristol dated the bones, confirming the ichthyosaur lived nine million years after an event believed to have caused the extinction of its kind.
Ichthyosaurs were large, dolphin-shaped reptiles that dominated the seas for around 250 million years. The discovery is unusual because the found fossil is the youngest ichthyosaur ever found in the United Kingdom. The area where the fossil was found, the Bridport Sands formation, typically contains rocks that are up to 20 million years older than those where ichthyosaur fossils are usually located.
Local paleontologists verified the couple’s findings, uncovering nearly complete fossil remains of the prehistoric predator within a sandstone slab. After careful removal and cleaning, the fossils were sent to the University of Bristol for study and will be displayed at the Bridport Museum, allowing the public to view the remarkable find. The team worked quickly to save the fossil from being destroyed by winter storms.
