Researchers have discovered a new marine reptile species that may have been the largest to ever swim in Earth’s waters, according to BBC and National Geographic. The creature, which lived around 202 million years ago during the Triassic period, or the age of dinosaurs, was about the length of two buses. A fossil hunter found its jawbone in 2016 on a beach in Somerset, UK, and a father-daughter team discovered a similar fossilized jawbone in the area in 2020.
Based on the size of the jawbones – one over a meter long and the other two meters long – researchers believe that the whole animal was approximately 25 meters long, or about the length of a blue whale. However, more evidence is needed to confirm its size, such as its entire skeleton and skull. The extinct fish lizards were known as top predators of their time and killed whales of their era.
The new fish lizard fossils are from very late Triassic period which is known as black box for Ichthyosaurian fossil series says paleontologist Neil Kelley. All previous giant fish-lizard fossils have been found in older rocks in Asia and North America, so these findings strengthen suspicions that this new species is unique.