Giant, 82-foot lizard fish discovered

‘Giant fish lizard’ could be largest marine reptile ever discovered on UK beach 

Scientists have uncovered the biggest marine reptile ever, and it’s a prehistoric beast. Remains of a marine reptile known as the 'giant fish lizard' have been discovered in Somerset. Scientists have unearthed the remains of a gigantic, sea monster that may be the largest marine reptile ever discovered. Newly discovered ichthyosaur that lived 200 million years ago in the Triassic sea is potentially the biggest to ever live, scientists say. If you thought the megalodon was scary, think again. Scientists have officially identified a prehistoric creature whose jaws were probably as mighty as the meg’s, but whose size makes it the biggest marine reptile on the planet ever. The newfound creature is a member of a group called ichthyosaurs, which were among the dominant sea predators during the Mesozoic era (251.9 million to 66 million years ago). The newly described species lived during the end of the Triassic period (251.9 million to 201.4 million years ago). Ichthyosaurs had already attained massive sizes by the early portion of the Mesozoic, but it was not until the late Triassic that the largest species emerged.

The newly discovered ichthyosaur species was unearthed in pieces between 2020 and 2022 at Blue Anchor, Somerset in the UK. The first chunk of the fossil was noticed atop a rock on the beach, indicating that a passer by had found it and set it there for others to examine. The researchers published their findings April 17 in the journal PLOS One. While the Mesozoic is known as the age of the dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs were not themselves dinosaurs. Instead, they evolved from another group of reptiles. Their evolutionary path closely mirrors that of whales, which evolved from terrestrial mammals that later returned to the sea. And like whales, they breathed air and gave birth to live young. The beast's massive jawbone measured over two metres, allowing it an incredible bone-crushing biting force. The megalodon’s was around the same size, while the Tyrannosaurus rex wielded a half-metre (1.6ft) sized jawbone. The reptile's remains are made up of a series of 12 fragments from a surangular bone, which is found in the upper portion of the lower jaw. The researchers estimate the bone was 6.5 feet (2 meters) long and that the living animal was about 82 feet (25 m) long. The researchers named the sea monster Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning giant lizard fish of the Severn, after the Severn Estuary where it was found. The team believes it is not only a new species but an entirely new genus of ichthyosaur. More than 100 species are already known.

Experts estimate the size of the new species, an enormous ichthyosaur, was a whopping 25m (82ft) long, about the size of a modern-day blue whale. (Megalodons were around 15-20m, or 65ft). A number of rib fragments and a coprolite, or fossilized feces, were found in the area as well, but they were not definitively attributed to the same animal. The sediments in which these specimens were found contained rocks that indicated earthquakes and tsunamis occurred during that time, which suggests that this species lived during a time of intense volcanic activity that may have led to a massive extinction event at the end of the Triassic according to the researchers. The fossilised remains of the beast were discovered on a beach in Somerset.

A similar specimen was discovered in Lilstock, Somerset in 2016 and described in 2018. Both were found in what is known at the Westbury Mudstone Formation, within 6 miles (10 kilometers) of each other. This ichthyosaur was estimated to have been as much as 85 feet (26 m) long, although the authors of the latest study believe it was slightly smaller. The previous contender for the largest marine reptile was another ichthyosaur, Shonisaurus sikanniensis, which was up to 69 feet (21 m) long. S. sikanniensis appeared 13 million years earlier than I. severnensis and was found in British Columbia, making it unlikely that the new discovery represents another specimen of the previously known species.

The research team have named the new species Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning 'giant fish lizard of the Severn.' Its bones are around 202 million years old, dating back to the end of the Triassic period. That means the marine reptile would have been swimming in the seas while dinosaurs roamed on land – just before the mass extinction event that wiped them out. A similarly massive ichthyosaur called Himalayasaurus tibetensis, which may have reached lengths of 49 feet (15 m), was discovered in Tibet and described in 1972. It dates to the same period, meaning that it probably is not the same species as the new discovery either. The first jawbone of this mysterious species was discovered in 2016. But this new discovery was the confirmation scientists have been waiting for.

Although this massive ichthyosaur was a giant reptile, it shared the planet with other incredible creatures, the dinosaurs. These awesome creatures came in all shapes and sizes, and are beautifully illustrated in the book "Dictionary of Dinosaurs" by Dieter Braun. From the enormous Argentinosaurus  to the pint-sized Zephyrosaurus, we loved its bite-sized facts, and it's well worth grabbing a copy if your kids love dinos as much as we do. I. severnensis was likely among the last of the giant ichthyosaurs, the researchers claim. Ichthyosaurs persisted into the Cenomanian Age (100.5 million to 93.9 million years ago) of the late Cretaceous period (100.5 million to 66 million years ago). They were eventually supplanted by plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles that went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, alongside all non-avian dinosaurs.

“We had hoped that one day another would come to light,” said Dr Dean Lomax, palaeontologist at the University of Manchester. “This new specimen is more complete, better preserved, and shows that we now have two of these giant bones, called a surangular, that have a unique shape and structure. I became very excited, to say the least.” Lomax and his team then compared the two jawbones and realised that they shared several unique features and they came from the same geological period. “These jawbones provide tantalising evidence that perhaps one day a complete skull or skeleton of one of these giants might be found,” Lomax said. “You never know.”