By: Melissa Zhao

In late May, 2020, Ruby Reynolds, 11, and her father, were digging for fossils at a beach in Somerset, England, when Ruby spotted something unusual sticking out of the sand. Soon, it was uncovered and revealed that it was a fossilized jawbone of a marine creature later known as the Ichthyosaur Severnesis.

The Ichthyosaur Severnesis is the largest of an extinct marine reptile to ever roam Earth’s oceans called Ichthyosaur, which means ‘fish lizard’ in greek. The marine creature is known to rival the blue whale in its immense size, reaching up to 22 to 26 meters long, roughly the length of 2½ school buses. That is just short of a blue whale, which can approximately reach 30 meters in length!

Scientists say that the Ichthyosaur prospered for around 160 million years until going extinct 90 million years ago. Earlier in April 2024, scientists established the existence of the Ichthyosaur Severnesis with the help of Ruby’s discovery. Each new fossil is a piece in the ancient puzzle of the ocean.

When Ruby Reynolds discovered the fossilized bone, she continued to hunt down more sections of the jaw until she uncovered a different section of the bone, much larger than the first piece, in a mud slope. Ruby and her father contacted Dr. Lomax, an Ichthyosaur expert, and more sections of the fossil were discovered until the jawbone was pieced together.

Ruby’s crucial role in the discovery of the jawbone led to many people comparing her to Mary Anning, a British fossil hunter who also discovered Ichthyosaur fossils when she was just 12 years old. “I think Mary Anning was an incredible palaeontologist and it’s amazing to be compared to her,” Ruby Reynolds said.

So far, no more sections of the Ichthyosaur’s immense fossil has been uncovered, but Ichthyosaur experts continue the hunt for more remains. It is an amazing reptile that roamed the great seas and was immense in its size. With Ruby’s discovery of the Ichthyosaur’s jawbone, scientists continue piecing together the intricate puzzle of marine life that roamed the seas 200 million years ago.

As Jimmy Waldron said, “To learn that an animal of this magnitude once swam our oceans, felt the same warmth of the sun and breathed our air, and then vanished, gives us an opportunity to see how important each species is to the fragile yet resilient fabric of life.”

Article link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/science/ichthyosaur-fossil-largest.html