Possibly—by length, not weight. A fragmentary lower-jaw bone found at Lilstock in Somerset led researchers to estimate that its Late Triassic owner was about 20–25 metres long, a range comparable to a blue whale. That is an estimate made by scaling one bone against other ichthyosaur fossils, not a measurement of a complete skeleton, so the animal’s exceptional size remains to be confirmed.
What did researchers find at Lilstock?
The 2018 fossil was an incomplete surangular, one of the bones forming the lower jaw, collected at Lilstock in Somerset, England. The pieces together measured about one metre, according to the University of Manchester report. It was jaw material, not a complete jaw or skeleton.
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The fossil’s collector, Paul de la Salle, said he first thought it was a piece of rock, then noticed a groove and bone structure and contacted ichthyosaur researchers. The find became the basis for a striking question: how large might an animal be if a single lower-jaw bone was that substantial?
How was the 20–25 m size estimate made?
In their 2018 study, Lomax, de la Salle, Massare and Gallois compared the Lilstock surangular with corresponding bones in other ichthyosaurs and used those proportions to estimate body length. Their conclusion was that a length on the order of 20–25 metres was reasonable. The figure describes an inferred whole-animal length; it is not the length of the fossil itself or a direct measurement of the animal.
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Dean Lomax, a University of Manchester palaeontologist and study co-author, cautioned that “it is difficult to provide a size estimate” from a large piece of jaw. He explained that one comparison made the Lilstock bone appear about 25% larger than the corresponding bone in Shonisaurus sikanniensis, while other comparisons suggested the animal was at least 20–25 metres long. The authors also noted that differences between ichthyosaur groups and the limits of scaling from incomplete material introduce uncertainty. Read the 2018 study in PLOS ONE.
What did the later Blue Anchor fossil add?
A 2024 study described a second, more complete surangular from Blue Anchor, about 10 kilometres west of Lilstock. The researchers found that it matched the Lilstock material in relevant features and named the new genus and species Ichthyotitan severnensis. They estimated that the Blue Anchor surangular had been over two metres long and placed the represented animal at about 25 metres, while discussing a broader 20–26 m span.
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The later paper also revisited part of the earlier comparison. It said that a feature identified as the coronoid process in the Lilstock specimen was actually the M.A.M.E. process, making one earlier comparison inaccurate. With revised comparisons, the authors still placed the Lilstock and Blue Anchor animals in an overall range of about 20–25 metres, with the largest estimate around 25 metres. They stressed that more complete remains are needed to confirm such giant body sizes. Read the 2024 study in PLOS ONE.
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Does that mean it was as big as a blue whale?
The comparison is about estimated length only. A 20–25 m ichthyosaur estimate falls in a similar length range to a blue whale, but the fossil evidence does not establish that the reptile was the same length as any particular whale, and it says nothing reliable about equivalent body mass. Length estimates for the ichthyosaur come from extrapolating fragmentary jaw bones, whereas the whale comparison is a way to convey scale—not proof of a size record.
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Nor do these fossils establish that Ichthyotitan severnensis was definitively the largest animal ever. The jaw material supports the possibility of a giant marine reptile around blue-whale length, but better-preserved, more complete specimens are needed to test the estimate.
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