The largest marine reptile ever found “swallowed” two buses

A giant 25-metre lizard discovered on a UK beach may be the largest marine reptile ever found.

The authors of a new study say that a newly discovered ichthyosaur that lived 200 million years ago in the Triassic Sea may have been the largest ever. Stadypublished on Wednesday in One plus.

The fossilized remains now found, which are 200 million years old, suggest that the giant sea monster was about 25 meters long, twice the size of a bus.

The newly discovered creature is part of the system Ichthyosauriawhose members were among Dominant marine predators During the Mesozoic Era, from 251.9 million to 66 million years ago. The species now described lived during the Late Triassic, 251.9 million to 201.4 million years ago.

Ichthyosaurs had already reached gigantic proportions at the beginning of the Mesozoic, but they were…It was at the end of the Triassic that the largest Classify.

Although the Mesozoic is known as Age of the dinosaursIchthyosaurs It wasn't the same dinosaurs. Instead, it clarifies Live sciencesThey evolved from another group of reptiles.

for you The evolutionary path closely mirrors that of whalesWhich evolved from land mammals that later returned to the sea. Like whales, they breathed air and gave birth to live young.

The newly discovered species of ichthyosaur was discovered in pieces between 2020 and 2022 at Blue Anchor, Somerset, in the United Kingdom.

The first piece of the fossil was seen on top of a rock on the beach, which indicates this A passerby found it and put it there For others to examine, as the researchers explained in the article.

The reptilian remains consist of a series of 12 segments of rectangular bone, located at the top of the lower jaw. Researchers appreciate this The bone was 2 meters long Long and that living animal In this case, its length will be about 25 meters.

Researchers named the sea monster Ichthyotitan severensisthis means Giant Severn Lizardfishnamed after the mouth of the River Severn where it was found.

The team believes this is not just a new species, but a An entirely new genus of ichthyosaurs – Of which more than 100 species are already known.