Plaster Cast is an Ichthyosaur

Published: 24th Feb 2015

For 30 years a specimen was in store at Dioncaster Museum believed to be a plaster cast. Then on closer study it was revealed that the specimen was in fact an actual fossil of a previously unknown species of Ichthyosaur. This new species has been named Ichthyosaurus anningae after Dorset's greatest fossil hunter Mary Anning. It was Mary Anning who discovered the very first complete Ichthyosaurus in 1811. Like that specimen this new species of Ichthyosaurus was also found on the Dorset coast some 30 years ago.

This unique fossil dates back 189 million years to the Jurassic period. Tiny hook-shaped features ca be seen in the stomach cavity that were actually the hooks from the tentacles of squid proving what its last meal was.