Previously Unknown Ichthyosaur Species Discovered in Museum Collection
Posted on February 24, 2015
A previously unknown species of ichthyosaur has been discovered in a museum collection. The discovery was made by University of Manchester paleontologist Dean Lomax in 2008 while studying collections at The Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery. Lomax noticed several abnormalities in the bone structure of the fossil and realized it was likely a new species.
Lomax spent five years traveling the world to check his findings about the fossil. He also worked with Professor Judy Massare of Brockport College, New York.
Lomax says in a statement, "After examining the specimen extensively, both Professor Massare and I identified several unusual features of the limb bones (humerus and femur) that were completely different to any other ichthyosaur known. That became very exciting. After examining perhaps over a thousand specimens we found four others with the same features as the Doncaster fossil."
Ichthyosaurs inhabited the seas for millions of years during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods before going extinct. The researchers note that the creatures are also incorrectly identified as "swimming dinosaurs."
The Doncaster fossil is estimated to be between 189 million and 182 million years old, which puts in the Pliensbachian age - part of the early Jurassic. The new species has been named Ichthyosaurus anningae after Mary Anning, a British scientist who first collected ichthyosaur fossils in the early 1800s. A research paper on the new species is published here in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.