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Ruby Reynolds was 11 when she found part of a giant fossil jaw at Blue Anchor beach in Somerset in 2020. Scientists later matched it with a jaw found nearby in 2016 and identified both as Ichthyotitan severnensis, a previously unnamed ichthyosaur. The animal may have reached about 25 metres long, but that is an estimate from incomplete jaw fossils—not a measurement of a complete skeleton—so its status as the largest known marine reptile remains provisional.
What did Ruby Reynolds discover?
Ruby was fossil hunting with her father, Justin Reynolds, at Blue Anchor beach in May 2020 when she found the first piece of a very large jaw. The family recovered more pieces over time and contacted palaeontologist Dean Lomax. The University of Bristol reports that the final piece was recovered in October 2022.
The find is a fragmentary lower jaw, including a bone called the surangular. It is not a complete skull or skeleton. That distinction matters: the fossil offers evidence of an exceptionally large ichthyosaur, but not a direct measurement of the animal’s full length.
“It was so cool to discover part of this gigantic ichthyosaur. I am very proud to have played a part in a scientific discovery like this,” Ruby said, according to the University of Bristol.
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How did the jaw lead to a new species?
The Blue Anchor jaw was compared with a giant jawbone found by fossil collector Paul de la Salle at nearby Lilstock in May 2016. The earlier specimen was less well preserved, but researchers concluded the two fossils belonged to the same previously unnamed species. Bristol describes the 2016 jaw as more than two metres long.
The researchers named the species Ichthyotitan severnensis, translated by the Natural History Museum as “giant fish lizard of the Severn.” The name refers to the Severn region; it does not mean the animal was a fish. Ichthyosaurs were extinct marine reptiles, distinct from both fish and dinosaurs. The museum’s ichthyosaur explainer describes the group and its place among ancient marine reptiles.
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Was it the largest marine reptile ever?
Possibly—but the evidence does not settle the ranking. The Natural History Museum reported an estimated length of around 25 metres, roughly comparable to a modern blue whale. That figure is inferred from jaw material, rather than measured from a complete skeleton. The museum also says the individual represented by the Blue Anchor bones was still growing, so its eventual size is unknown.
For those reasons, Ichthyotitan severnensis is best described as a candidate for the largest known marine reptile, not an unquestionably established record-holder. Comparisons with other giant marine reptiles are difficult when fossils are incomplete and body lengths have to be inferred from different bones.
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“We knew that there were giant ichthyosaurs in the Triassic, but this find hints that they were possibly even larger than we thought,” said Dr Marc Jones, Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Natural History Museum. The museum noted that more of the skeleton might yet be found.
When did giant ichthyosaurs live?
The Somerset bones date to around 202 million years ago, near the end of the Triassic Period, during the Rhaetian age. Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles adapted to life in the sea; despite the “-saur” in their name, they were not dinosaurs. Their fossil record includes animals of varied sizes, and the Somerset jaws point to a particularly enormous one.
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Where were the fossils found?
Ruby’s 2020 discovery came from Blue Anchor beach. The earlier jaw that helped researchers identify the species was found at Lilstock in 2016. Both locations are on the Somerset coast in southwest England, but they are separate finds made four years apart.
The University of Bristol said in April 2024 that the fossils would soon go on display at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. That announcement described a planned future display at the time; it does not establish whether the specimens are currently on view.
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Sources and further reading
- Natural History Museum: “Giant marine reptile found in the UK could be the largest ever discovered” (19 April 2024).
- University of Bristol: “Gigantic ichthyosaur discovery in the UK could be largest ever marine reptile” (18 April 2024).
- Natural History Museum: “What is an ichthyosaur? The real sea dragons that once swam beneath the waves”.
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