Scientists have identified a nearly complete fossil skeleton found on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast as a new species of ichthyosaur, named Xiphodracon goldencapensis or the “sword dragon of Dorset.”
The 185-million-year-old marine reptile, about three metres long, had a long, sword-like snout and unique skeletal features, including a prong-like bone near its nostril.
Researchers believe it was fatally bitten by a larger ichthyosaur and suffered injuries or disease during life.
First discovered by fossil hunter Chris Moore in 2001 and later studied in Canada, the find fills an evolutionary gap and marks one of the most complete ichthyosaurs from this rare period in Earth’s history.
