The skeleton was unearthed in Stolford, Somersetafter a week of rough seas on the south coast
Posted on 12/17/2019 8:09:23 AM PST by Red Badger
Dog walker Jon Gopsill, 54, was stunned when his pups led him to five-foot-long remains
The fossil was left exposed by recent storms on the coast of Stolford, Somerset
The amateur archaeologist believes the skeleton is that of a Jurassic reptile known as an ichthyosaur
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A dog walker claims to have stumbled across a 65 million-year-old skeleton on a Somerset beach – thanks to the sharp noses of his dogs.
Jon Gopsill, 54, was walking his two pets on the coast of Stolford, Somerset on Saturday when they sniffed out a bone that turned out to be part of a five-and-a-half foot long fossil, exposed by recent storms.
Mr Gopsill, an amateur archaeologist, believes the fossil is of the prehistoric order of porpoise-like sea creatures known as ichthyosaurs that lived during the Jurassic period.
Dr Mike Day, Curator in the Earth Sciences department at the Natural History Museum, confirmed that the skeleton was likely to belong to an ichthyosaur.
'Looking at this specimen, based on the number of bones in the pectoral paddle, the apparent absence of a pelvic girdle, as well as the distinctive "hunch" of the back, this is likely to be the remains of an ichthyosaur,' he said.
'It is not possible to identify the exact type of ichthyosaur from these images alone however.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The skeleton was unearthed in Stolford, Somersetafter a week of rough seas on the south coast
Good dog?
Is anybody here a marine reptile biologist?
Dog walkers and people with metal detectors seem to discover everything in England.
Well, I’m a Marine.
I’ve been called a ‘reptile’.
And I too biology in college.................
Impressive, but what blows my mind is that is had a smell after 65MM years. A dog’s nose is simply amazing.
Probably smelled like fish...............
Ichthyosaurs were extinct 65 million years ago. Do they mean 165 million years ago?
Looks like it had alligator skin.
Very cool.
Dog school should give him an honorary cadaver dog degree.
“ Probably smelled like fish..........”
Lol. I wasn’t going there, but......
At the end of the article they set the record straight.............
Are you sure that armored thing is an icthyosaurus?
I think the y have TWO different fossils in one there..............
See subsequent pics at link...............
There’s a Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in a ghost town in Nevada I’ve visited and they claim 225 million years.
Who put the "ick" in ichthyosaur?
Amazing that there would be any smell left for the dog to sniff after 65 million years. I’d have thought it would be completely mineralized.
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