Triassic titan identified

Remains of a prehistoric marine reptile found in Somerset are identified as a new giant ichthyosaur

- Danny Graham

The remains of two huge jawbones found on the Somerset coast between 2016 and 2022 have now been formally identified as a new species of giant ichthyosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that lived during the Late Triassic, more than 200 million years ago.

According to the findings, recently published in the journal PLOS One, the new ichthyosaur, named Ichthyotitan severensis, meaning ‘giant fish lizard of the Severn’, is likely the largest marine reptile known. Estimates suggest it may have been more than 25m long, about the size of a blue whale.