Drone footage shows a giant “sea dragon” fossil recently discovered in England

The United Kingdom announced on Monday (10) the site of the fossilized remains of an ichthyosaur in central England.

The fossil was found in a reservoir owned by Anglian Water, the water company that owns the explored area.

The site was excavated a year ago, but the photos were posted on Monday (10). This Tuesday (11), the BBC in London will be showing special content about the discovery.

Ichthyosaurs were large marine reptiles resembling dolphins, but growing up to 25 meters in length.

The 10-meter-long fossil was discovered in February 2021, in the Rutland Water Reservoir, and is about 180 million years old.

Joe Davis, conservation activist from Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife TrustAn ichthyosaur was found while routinely draining an island into a lake to create a new landscape.

“It was a very cool find,” Joe said. “It is wonderful to learn so much from this discovery and to believe that this amazing creature once swam in the seas above us.”

Known as sea dragons because of their large eyes and teeth, ichthyosaurs became extinct about 90 million years ago.