How often do British paleontologists come across a fully intact fossil of a 32-feet long "sea dragon"? The answer is never—until now.
In August of 2021, officials at Anglian Water and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust had been carrying ou routine maintenance of the nature reserve when they uncovered the largest and most complete sea dragon fossil that the UK has ever seen. The massive 180-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil boasts a 6-foot skull that weighs a whole ton.
The nature reserve is now a landlocked county, but when this ichthyosaur was alive, the area was covered in warm seawater. Today, the fossil lives in a paleontology lab where it is being preserved for display in a year's time.
Images: Matthew Power / Anglian Water