Reservoir dragons - 24th January 2022

Routine landscaping at a UK reservoir has revealed a near perfectly preserved 10 metre sea dragon fossil. The discovery of this giant, sea-dwelling reptile has been announced by prominent palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax as "one of the greatest finds in British palaeontological history."

Joe Davis, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust conservation team leader, happened upon large vertebrae poking out of the mud while Rutland Water was drained for maintenance. Imagining them to be dinosaur remains, he contacted the local council, requesting they send palaeontologists to survey the site.

"I looked down at what seemed like stones or ridges in the mud and I said this looks a bit organic, a bit different. Then we saw something that looked almost like a jawbone," he recalled.

Rutland, in the English Midlands, is around 50 kilometres from the coast, making the find all the more exceptional, with leading ichthyosaur expert Dr Lomax describing it as "a truly unprecedented discovery".

Although 200 million years ago the area was submerged under a shallow ocean, the creatures are typically found in coastal areas. This specimen's complete 10 metre skeleton and its skull, weighing one tonne alone, were professionally identified and later excavated by Dr Dean Lomax and his team.

"Usually, we think of ichthyosaurs and other marine reptiles being discovered along the Jurassic coast in Dorset or the Yorkshire coast, where many of them are exposed by the erosion of the cliffs. Here at an inland location is very unusual," he explained.

Trailblazing fossil hunter and palaeontologist Mary Anning unearthed the first ichthyosaur remains in the early 19th century. The creatures, which predate the dinosaurs, received their sea dragon moniker owing to their facial features, bearing enormous, pointed teeth and oversized eyes.

First appearing 250 million years ago, the dolphin-shaped marine reptiles varied in size, with some species growing to a colossal 25 metres. They became extinct around 90 million years ago. While fossils of two incomplete and much smaller ichthyosaurs found during the 1970s construction of the reservoir identified Rutland Water as a site of interest, this recent discovery puts it firmly on the map.