tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/ichthyosaurs-48317/articlesIchthyosaurs – The Conversation2022-01-24T16:34:13Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1734912022-01-24T16:34:13Z2022-01-24T16:34:13ZWhen two ecosystems collided, ichthyosaurs re-evolved the ability to consume large prey<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441902/original/file-20220121-9300-cmsu7f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1503%2C833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A specimen of the newly discovered species of ichthyosaur had teeth that showed it was capable of consuming large prey.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Cortés, Maxwell, Larsson)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/when-two-ecosystems-collided--ichthyosaurs-re-evolved-the-ability-to-consume-large-prey" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The land contact between North and South America has long been a fountain of research. The Isthmus of Panama — the narrow strip of land between the two continents — fully emerged about <a href="https://stri-apps.si.edu/docs/publications/pdfs/Jaramillo-2018-Panama-Isthmus.pdf">3.5 million years ago</a>. It allowed contact between <a href="https://stri-sites.si.edu/sites/publications/PDFs/The_Neogene_record_of_Northern_South_American_Native_Ungulates.pdf">terrestrial North and South American mammals</a>, and resulted in wide-scale invasions of placental mammals into South America and the ultimate extinction of most southern marsupials. </p>
<p>In the late Jurassic, 150 million years ago, Earth was emerging from a relatively cool period, the supercontinent Pangea was breaking up, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2015.01.001">a spike in extinction intensity rippled across the ecosystems</a>. During the following period, known as the Early Cretaceous, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/early-cretaceous">the planet was warming, global sea levels and atmospheric oxygen were rising and the continents continued to fragment</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, two entirely isolated oceans, the Eastern Pacific and the Western Tethys, <a href="https://archives.datapages.com/data/sepm_sp/SP20/Paleogeography_Paleobiogeography.htm">which would later become the Atlantic Ocean</a>, came together across the Hispanic Corridor. This union of oceans during a time of relatively high temperatures created a perfect storm for ecosystem evolution and drivers for novel biodiversity in the Neotropics — an event that would transform the course of marine ecosystems for the next 60 million years.</p>
<h2>Biodiversity hotspot</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A digital map showing North and South America before they were connected — the strait between them is labelled as the Hispanic Corridor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439245/original/file-20220103-84343-cou8p0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hispanic Corridor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://climatearchive.org/">(Climate Archive)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research team, consisting of scientists from Colombia, Canada and Germany, explored the Neotropics by using the fossil record from the Paja Formation, a poorly studied shallow marine deposit in central Colombia that was laid down just after the formation of the Hispanic Corridor. Our main goal is to understand the origin and evolution of this marine ecosystem, and if it served as a potential ancient biodiversity hotspot — an epicentre for new species to originate and flourish. </p>
<p>We discovered a new species of ichthyosaur, the giant fish-like marine reptile. While examining a beautifully preserved skull specimen of the species we named <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2021.1989507"><em>Kyhytysuka sachicarum</em></a>, we recognized this to be the first Cretaceous hypercarnivore ichthyosaur.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="photograph of an ichthyosaur skull" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=183&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=183&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=183&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=231&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=231&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442062/original/file-20220122-19-1gdw7x0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=231&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The skull of <em>Kyhytysuka sachicarum</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Cortés, Maxwell, Larsson)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The new species evolved from Jurassic ichthyosaurs in the Tethys, but differed in that it had unique teeth for an ichthyosaur: there were several different tooth shapes that served different purposes, ranging from piercing to saw-tooth cutting to crushing. </p>
<p>This large ichthyosaur represents a revival of hypercarnivory (eating large prey). Although some early evolving ichthyosaurs did this, they moved to small fishes and invertebrates for the next 70 million years. <em>Kyhytysuka</em> somehow re-evolved the capacity for hypercarnivory during this time and place of intense ecological upheaval.</p>
<h2>Large marine animals</h2>
<p><em>Kyhytysuka</em> was also one of the last surviving ichthyosaurs. Most ichthyosaurs went extinct by the end of the Jurassic — only a few made it into the Cretaceous but none survived past 100 million years ago. The fossil record in the Paja Formation preserves hints of the changing marine ecosystem.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/56J7N7YRqQY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">3D animation of <em>Kyhytysuka sachicarum</em>.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These rocks preserve some of the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/story/long-ago">largest marine animals ever discovered</a>, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1030">several ichthyosaurs</a>, enormous whale-sized <a href="https://doi.org/10.15446/esrj.v22n4.69916">pliosaurs</a>, the first long-necked elasmosaurs and a <a href="https://mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/2020/03/01/enormous-crocodylomorph-discovered-in-colombia-dirley-cortes/">10-metre-long crocodile</a> that was the last survivor of a long lineage of Jurassic marine crocodiles. </p>
<p>The fossil record also contains <a href="https://doi.org/10.5070/P9321028615">the oldest known marine turtles in the lineage of today’s sea turtles</a> as well as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104602">origins of several crustaceans that survive today</a> .</p>
<p>The information in the fossil record helps us reconstruct ancient food web interactions based on what was present in the Eastern Pacific and the Western Tethys prior to their contact and what was present during their contact in the Paja Formation. Changes to these ancient food webs promise to shed light on the environmental and ecological factors involved in the long-term sustainability of ecosystems.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="ALT" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442060/original/file-20220122-17253-16nuwgl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s reconstruction of an Early Cretaceous ecosystem, created for <em>Hace Tiempo</em>, the first illustrated book about Colombia’s geological history.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stri.si.edu/sites/default/files/hace_tiempo.pdf">(Hace Tiempo/C. Jaramillo and Guillermo Torres Carreño)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Careful inspection of fossils from this unique time and place offers a new window into what happens when ecosystems collide. So far, we’re finding this facilitates the evolution of enormous top predators and several evolutionary origins of new lineages that would persist for millions of years. </p>
<p>These results provide relevant data for better understanding of the consequences of the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction on marine animals and, ultimately, of the advent of today’s marine ecosystems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dirley Cortés received funding from the BESS-NEO program, NSERC CREATE 46283-2015, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Anders Foundation, the 1923 Fund, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson, and the Fonds de recherche Nature et technologies Quebec (FRQNT). DC received particular subventions to this project by the Redpath Museum’s Delise Alison Award- 2019, the Sigma Xi Grant-in-aid-of-Research (GIAR), Canada-2019, and the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science excellence award-2019 (QCBS). This work is part of DC’s PhD thesis dissertation at McGill University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hans Larsson receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>A fossil record in central Colombia reveals how marine animals evolved during a period of environmental change.Dirley Cortés, PhD Candidate, Biology, Redpath Museum, Biology Department, McGill UniversityHans Larsson, Professor, Vertebrate Palaeontology, and Director, Redpath Museum, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/926182018-04-10T10:58:08Z2018-04-10T10:58:08ZHow we found a giant ichthyosaur almost as big as a blue whale<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214056/original/file-20180410-540-rjw5tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nobumichi Tamura</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When fossil collector Paul De la Salle discovered pieces of a giant bone on Lilstock beach in Somerset in May 2016, he didn’t realise he had stumbled on a clue to a near 170-year-old mystery. Returning to the beach the following month, he found more pieces that together measured about a metre in length. De la Salle realised he was looking at the lower jaw of a huge ichthyosaur, an ancient type of marine reptile that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. </p>
<p>De la Salle then contacted me, Judy Massare from the State University of New York and professional geologist Ramues Gallois. To say we were very excited would be an understatement. The specimen, which we describe in a new paper in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194742">PLOS ONE</a>, was around 205m-years-old, dating from the late Triassic period.</p>
<p>Massare and I agreed the fossil was an incomplete “surangular” bone from the lower jaw of a giant ichthyosaur because it had <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/145/4/583/2627659">several notable features</a> such as a prominent groove in the surface facing towards the middle of the body. We were also surprised to discover there were very few detailed descriptions of ichthyosaur surangular bones in the academic literature, and even less information on giant specimens.</p>
<p>We eventually realised the Lilstock ichthyosaur was so big it could be the largest of its kind ever discovered, comparable to a blue whale in length. What’s more, the new specimen helped us demonstrate that several other large fossil bones discovered in 1850 were also from giant ichthyosaurs and not huge land reptiles as previously thought.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214060/original/file-20180410-540-z0hiey.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Looking for clues.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lomax/Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To reach this conclusion, Massare and I visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada. There we compared the Lilstock specimen with the largest known ichthyosaur, the giant <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024%5B0838%3AGIOTTN%5D2.0.CO%3B2"><em>Shonisaurus sikanniensis</em></a>, which has a total length of 21 metres. The similarities between its surangular and our specimen suggest the Lilstock creature was from the same shastasaurid family of ichthyosaurs.</p>
<p>It’s very difficult to accurately estimate the animal’s size because we only have a large piece of its jaw. But we do know that the Lilstock fossil is about 25% larger than the same bone in <em>S. sikanniensis</em>. So using a simple scaling factor, we can estimate that our ichthyosaur was up to 26m long. Comparing it with other shastasaurid ichthyosaurs suggests that it was between 20 metres and 25 metres in length.</p>
<p>The differences between species and individuals means we can’t be sure about these figures. But this kind of simple scaling is a common way of estimating size in palaeontology, especially when there aren’t many samples to compare. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214061/original/file-20180410-566-18bgr2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jaw bone of giant ichthyosaur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lomax</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A mystery solved?</h2>
<p>Our new study also provides new evidence for the origin of five other incomplete bones from the Late Triassic found up the coast from Lilstock at Aust Cliff in Gloucestershire in 1850, two of which are now missing and presumed destroyed. Although other ichthyosaur vertebrae have also been <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/112/1-2/217/2691437">found in the area</a>, these Victorian discoveries were <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078573">previously described</a> as the limb bones of early dinosaurs (notably stegosaurs or sauropods) or indeterminate land reptiles.</p>
<p>But comparing them with the Lilstock specimen suggests they are actually jaw fragments of giant, previously unrecognised ichthyosaurs. One or two of the fossils are probably also surangulars but they might be other types of jaw bone. They might even by parts of a giant hyoid (the U-shaped bone that supports the tongue), as the same bone in <em>S. sikanniensis</em> is similarly large.</p>
<p>Given the changing opinions about these bones, which have generally been considered to come from dinosaurs, I suspect that our study will generate even more interest in these fossils. And hopefully more existing specimens in museum and private collections that are currently thought to be dinosaur bones will be correctly re-identified as coming from ichthyosaur.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dean Lomax does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A jaw bone found on a beach in Somerset could be from the largest ichthyosaur of its kind ever discovered.Dean Lomax, Visiting Scientist (Palaeontologist), University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/896882018-01-05T13:22:56Z2018-01-05T13:22:56ZDavid Attenborough’s Sea Dragon – and the science behind a tantalising prehistoric ‘murder mystery’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200993/original/file-20180105-26145-1wickxb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How the fossilised creature may have looked in its heyday.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC Pictures</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sea Dragon, you ask? It sounds as if David Attenborough has decided to change things up a bit and enter the world of Game of Thrones. But, not quite. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2kgl">Attenborough and the Sea Dragon</a> – to be screened on January 7 – is a new, one-off BBC documentary presented by Sir David Attenborough, which tells the story of a newly discovered ichthyosaur from the Dorset coast, England.</p>
<p>The word “Sea Dragon” refers to two extinct types of reptiles, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Ichthyosaur">ichthyosaurs</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Plesiosaur">plesiosaurs</a>. They were first brought to the attention of the scientific world in the early 19th century, and described and named in 1821. </p>
<p>The scientists were well aware that these were not actual dragons, of course, but some people (notably the early collector, Thomas Hawkins), thought the word “dragon” would help to popularise these incredible animals. Their discovery even predates the formal recognition of the word dinosaur, in 1842. </p>
<p>Indeed, these animals are not “swimming dinosaurs”, as they are commonly and mistakenly described as, but are an entirely different group of extinct reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. They were a highly successful group that first appeared in the Early Triassic, around 248m years ago, and became extinct about 90m years ago, in the Late Cretaceous.</p>
<h2>On British shores</h2>
<p>Most of the early discoveries were found in the UK, having come from the early part of the Jurassic Period, from inland quarries in Somerset and from the coastal section of the Lyme Regis-Charmouth area, Dorset. The inspirational Victorian fossil hunter and palaeontologist, <a href="http://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/collection/mary-anning/">Mary Anning</a>, collected many ichthyosaur specimens from around Lyme Regis and Charmouth, including some of the first brought to the attention of geologists. </p>
<p>Such fossils captivated scientists and the general public, which led to interest from museums and institutions around the globe, eager to add a specimen to their collection. Remains are displayed and stored in museums around the globe. Today, there is still major interest in collecting and studying such specimens.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200942/original/file-20180105-26154-pn6r09.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Partial skeleton of <em>Leptonectes moorei</em>, a species of ichthyosaur named after fossil collector Chris Moore. Held in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Natural History Museum, London</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For most of my academic career, which spans just over a decade, I have been studying ichthyosaurs, with a key emphasis on those collected from the Early Jurassic rocks of Britain. Over the years, I have been through countless museum collections across the UK and elsewhere, in hope of examining as many British Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs as possible. In doing so, I’ve seen thousands of specimens, ranging from isolated bones to complete skeletons, and from pregnant individuals to specimens with their last meal preserved. It is hard to quantify the great number of specimens known, but I have probably seen (either physically, or as photos) more than 90% of all British Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs that are stored in museums and university collections.</p>
<p>Globally, there are 25 species of Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs known. I have named five of them: <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2014.903260?journalCode=ujvp20"><em>Ichthyosaurus anningae</em></a>, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14772019.2016.1183149"><em>Wahlisaurus massarae</em></a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1065/pdf"><em>Ichthyosaurus larkini</em> and <em>I. somersetensis</em></a>, and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2017.1361433?journalCode=ujvp20"><em>Protoichthyosaurus applebyi</em></a>. </p>
<p>Each of the new species were based on the (re)discovery of specimens already in museum collections – indeed, palaeontology collections contain a treasure trove of fossils that await rediscovery. But new discoveries straight from the field are particularly exciting – and this is where Attenborough steps in …</p>
<h2>A new ‘dragon’</h2>
<p>In 2016, I was in contact with somebody at the BBC regarding a possible new one-off documentary on ichthyosaurs, presented by Sir David Attenborough. David has a bit of a soft-spot for ichthyosaurs, you see.</p>
<p>Excited probably doesn’t quite capture what I was feeling, given that ichthyosaurs have pretty much been my life for ten or so years and I grew up watching Attenborough documentaries. Anyway, the idea was based around a new ichthyosaur discovery in Dorset. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200949/original/file-20180105-26169-19il3ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Attenborough examines the fossil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Robin Cox</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I had actually already been aware of this discovery (in early 2016), as I am long-time friends with the collector, an excellent chap called Chris Moore. I met Chris when I was about 17 years old. He is one of the best fossil collectors I have ever met. He just has a gift when it comes to finding new or rare fossils. For example, one ichthyosaur specimen he found back in January, 1995, turned out to be a new species. It was named <em><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-4983.00096/pdf">Leptonectes moorei</a></em>, in honour of Chris. He has certainly got an eye for recognising something rare.</p>
<p>The documentary thus focuses on telling the life story of Chris’ 2016 ichthyosaur specimen. From how it lived, what it would have looked like, to ultimately how it died. Several of my colleagues, including Emily Rayfield, Ben Moon, and Fiann Smithwick (all from the University of Bristol) were on hand to help piece together this 200m-year-old puzzle. </p>
<p>Various other colleagues, including Cindy Howells (National Museum of Cardiff) and Steve Etches (The Etches Collection – Museum of Jurassic Marine Life) also helped. The specimen itself is almost complete, although, sadly, is missing the skull. But therein lies the mystery, and part of the story. It is thought that the animal may have been killed from an attack by another ichthyosaur. So, perhaps this is a 200m-year-old crime scene, even what the BBC publicity has called a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2kgl">“murder mystery”</a>?</p>
<p>I have yet to see the documentary, and am looking forward to seeing it. However, I have read, in various press articles, that this specimen has been hailed a new species. </p>
<p>I actually disagree with this. I have seen the specimen, well parts of it, and the forefin matches what is known for the ichthyosaur genus, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1065/pdf"><em>Ichthyosaurus</em></a>. The forefin of <em>Ichthyosaurus</em> is unique to the genus, and the forefins of Chris’ new specimen, match perfectly. Indeed, they probably belong to <em><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/an-ichthyosaurus-breviceps-collected-by-mary-anning-new-information-on-the-species/860729195FFDE7504DB6214F5C7D7FCB">Ichthyosaurus breviceps</a></em>, a short-snouted species, known from about 30 specimens – although Chris’ specimen, if it is an <em>Ichthyosaurus breviceps</em>, would be the largest known. </p>
<p>Of course, without a skull, it is difficult to say for certain what species this specimen belongs to, or what really happened to it, and I’m interested to see whether the mystery is finally solved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dean Lomax does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a new David Attenborough documentary examines a remarkable fossil, a leading expert gives his verdict.Dean Lomax, Visiting Scientist (Palaeontologist), University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/361652015-01-12T13:59:37Z2015-01-12T13:59:37ZHow we found Scotland’s first Jurassic sea reptile (and no, she’s not related to Nessie)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68694/original/image-20150112-23812-1nvbb4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Introducing Dearcmhara shawcrossi, the dino-fish that all the fuss is about</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Todd Marshall</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>My colleagues and I recently had the great privilege to announce a remarkable new discovery: a dolphin-like reptile that prowled the Middle Jurassic waters 170 million years ago. </p>
<p>When you think of scientists digging up prehistoric reptiles like this, odds are a certain image comes to mind. An intrepid Indiana Jones character, cowboy hat perched at just the right angle to block out the desert sun, brushing sand off of a perfect series of bones emerging from the ground, maybe in the western US, or the Sahara, or the Gobi.</p>
<p>Odds are you don’t think of Scotland, but that’s exactly where we found our beast.</p>
<p>And at the risk of using a cliché that will only become more tiresome over the next few months, in the run-up to the fourth instalment of the popular film series due out in June, Scotland was a real Jurassic Park.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RFinNxS5KN4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<h2>Introducing Dearcmhara shawcrossi</h2>
<p>The new creature, which we named <em>Dearcmhara shawcrossi</em>, is an <em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Ichthyosaur">ichthyosaur</a></em>, a group of extinct reptiles that were top dogs in the oceans when dinosaurs ruled the land. They weren’t quite dinosaurs, but close relatives. </p>
<p>The difference between <em>Dearcmhara shawcrossi</em> and other <em>ichthyosaurs</em> comes down to several very distinctive features of the upper arm bone of the flipper. One is a big triangular muscle attachment scar, the other a deep ligament pit. We’re not totally sure what function these had, other than they supported a different system of muscles and ligaments from other ichthyosaurs.</p>
<p>No, we have not found the ancestor of the Loch Ness Monster, as <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/551424/Scientists-discover-relative-Loch-Ness-Monster-Isle-Skye">many headlines</a> have trumpeted in the most predictable fashion. How else would you expect tabloid journalists to describe a giant water-living reptile from Scotland? What we have found is much more interesting: a four-metre-long, fish-eating, top-of-the-food-chain predator that lived more than 100 million years before <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68685/original/image-20150112-23795-1n7426v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Nessie is not invited to the photoshoot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=Loch%20Ness%20Monster&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=101737288">dedMazay</a></span>
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<p>The new fossil isn’t the most beautiful specimen. It’s a handful of bones—including part of the flipper, back and tail, all of which you can hold in your two hands. But this is a big deal for Scotland, because it’s the first uniquely Scottish marine reptile that has ever been discovered, studied and named.</p>
<h2>How the dino-fish was reeled in</h2>
<p>The story behind <em>Dearcmhara</em> is a feel-good tale, and would perhaps make a better film than some of the dinosaur-related drivel on cable television.</p>
<p>Scotland is one of the best places in the world for finding <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/mesozoic/jurassic/mj.shtml">Middle-Jurassic</a> fossils, yet more than 95% of this material has just disappeared, collected by beachcombers and forgotten about. Some of it has been sold to the highest bidder, a sad state of affairs that holds back our scientific understanding of Scotland’s fossil history.</p>
<p>Not <em>Dearcmhara</em>. The fossil was collected in 1959 by an amateur collector named Brian Shawcross, along a beach called Bearreraig Bay in the northern part of the Isle of Skye. Instead of putting it on his mantle or flogging it in a car-boot sale, Brian donated the bones to the <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/">Hunterian museum in Glasgow</a>, where they could be conserved, preserved for posterity and studied by scientists.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68704/original/image-20150112-23807-lptshd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where the fossil was found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.5005923,-6.1439646,9z?hl=en">Google Maps</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a token of thanks for Brian’s generosity, we coined the species name of the new beastie “shawcrossi” in his honour.</p>
<p>It took us a while to study <em>Dearcmhara</em>. At the time when Brian found the specimen, there wasn’t a critical mass of palaeontologists in Scotland to study new vertebrate fossil discoveries. Half century later there are researchers studying dinosaurs and other reptile fossils across the country, at the University of Edinburgh where I’m based, the National Museum of Scotland, the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, and the Staffin Museum in Skye.</p>
<p>A little over a year ago, many of us came together to form a new consortium of Scottish palaeontologists, called the PalAlba group, and made it our mission to track down as many dinosaur and reptile fossils from Scotland as possible.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68695/original/image-20150112-23807-spcg0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Pal-Alba group behind the find.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Crighton</span></span>
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<h2>What we need to know now</h2>
<p>We want to figure out what Scotland was like during the Middle Jurassic, this mysterious interval of time from which so few fossils are known around the world. What animals lived here? What were their ecosystems like? How did they evolve over time?</p>
<p>And to accomplish this we need, and want, to work with amateur collectors. Academics can’t be out scouring the beaches 365 days a year looking for fossils. And most amateurs don’t have the training to preserve and study fossils. We hope the story of Brian Shawcross resonates across Scotland: there are fossil beasts to be found, so get up and go outside, and if you find something and it’s new, please donate it to a museum and work with us to get it identified and studied.</p>
<p>After all, I think that having a unique new 170-million-year old fossil named after you is much better than making a few quid on eBay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Brusatte does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>My colleagues and I recently had the great privilege to announce a remarkable new discovery: a dolphin-like reptile that prowled the Middle Jurassic waters 170 million years ago. When you think of scientists…Stephen Brusatte, Chancellor's Fellow in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.