Mary Anning, a fossil hunter, found the first complete ichthyosaur skull. It was believed that it was lost forever after German bombs fell on London during World War II.
Two plaster casts of this distinctive reptile-like dolphin have been found, even though no record has ever been made.
Researchers Judy Massare from New York State University and Dean Lomax are from University of Manchester in northwest England. The finds were described as “historically important”.
They stated that the specimen was “the first skeleton of an extinct marine reptile found in scientific literature, and the most complete ichthyosaur skull known at the time.” .
One cast found at Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History is thought to be a “cast of one cast” and was given to the institution in 1930.
It states that it is an ichthyosaurus fossil from Lyme Regis, on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset in southern England. Anning and her family went fossil hunting in the early 19th Century.
The other, at Berlin’s Natural History Museum. SaysOnly that it is a “plastercast of an ichthyosaur skeleton found in an unknown location”.
Lomax and Massare WriteThe journal Royal Society Open ScienceThe publication Wednesday stated that the cast was in excellent condition. It was also likely to be a later casting using newer techniques as it was more detailed.
Comparisons of both casts led the researchers to conclude they were of the lost ichthyosaur skeleton bought for £100 by the Royal College of Surgeons after it failed to sell at an auction by Anning in 1820.
The sum is the equivalent to nearly £7,500 (US$8,600) today.
The researchers said that, “considering that the original was destroyed in World War II it is ironic that this cast is in Berlin museum in the best condition.” Not noted.
Ichthyosaurus was a distant relative of snakes and lizards. Its name translates as “fish lizard”.
They lived between 251 and 65.5 millions years ago.
There have been well-preserved fossils found in England and Germany.
They measured approximately three meters (10 ft) in length and had four flippers, large eyes, pointed snouts, and rows sharp teeth.
They lived in water but were air-breathers so they would not have been able to survive on land.
Ammonite is a fictional film that was inspired by Anning’s own life and was released in 2020. Kate Winslet stars in it.
