'World's largest animals' fossil found in Somerset: Here's what experts say

New Delhi : Fossil collector found the 205 million-year-old remains which has been identified as belonging to “one of the largest animals ever”. The remains include ancient jaw bone belonging to a gigantic underwater reptile, nearly the size of blue whale, say palaeontologists.

Paul de la Salle and his international team have found the 205 million-year-old remains in Lilstock, Somerset. They mentioned that it belonged to a type of fish-like predatory reptile called an ichthyosaur, and its discovery suggests other fossils found in the UK could belong to even larger creatures.

The bone is 26 metres in length and the researchers noted the ichthyosaur was approaching the size of the blue whale, the largest animal to have ever lived.

“Initially, the bone just looked like a piece of rock but, after recognising a groove and bone structure, I thought it might be part of a jaw from an ichthyosaur,” said Mr De la Salle.

Salle approached ichthyosaur experts Dean Lomax, of the University of Manchester, and Professor Judy Massare, of SUNY College at Brockport, who both had keen interest in studying the bone. 

They compared the fossils which is an incomplete bone called a surangular from the lower part of the animal’s jaw, with several other ichthyosaur specimens.

Interestingly, they looked at the bone in relation to a specimen held at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Canada, belonging to a species called Shonisaurus sikanniensis.

The 21 metre Shonisaurus is believed to be a true monster and is the largest known ichthyosaur.

However, the palaeontologists’ analysis suggested the bone found by Mr De la Salle belonged to a similar animal that was even bigger.

 “As the specimen is represented only by a large piece of jaw, it is difficult to provide a size estimate, but by using a simple scaling factor and comparing the same bone in S. sikanniensis, the Lilstock specimen is about 25 per cent larger,” said Mr Lomax.

“Other comparisons suggest the Lilstock ichthyosaur was at least 20-25 metres. 

“Of course, such estimates are not entirely realistic because of differences between species. Nonetheless, simple scaling is commonly used to estimate size, especially when comparative material is scarce.” 

Scientists took the help of geologist Dr Ramues Gallois and were able to date the bone to the late Triassic period.

In their paper describing the discovery in the journal PLOS One, the scientists also suggested the new bone could be a sign that prehistoric Britain was home to many more of these enormous creatures.

Additional five bones were discovered around Aust Cliff, Gloucestershire, in the 19th century were previously thought to come from dinosaurs.

However, the identification of the new giant ichthyosaur made Mr Lomax and his colleagues re-evaluate those bones. 

“One of the Aust bones might also be an ichthyosaur surangular. If it is, by comparison with the Lilstock specimen, it might represent a much larger animal,” said Mr Lomax.

“To verify these findings, we need a complete giant Triassic ichthyosaur from the UK – a lot easier said than done.”