The sea dragon Etches, a species of ichthyosaur, was found by amateur fossil collector Steve Etches.
Etches is an expert in the fossils of the Kimmeridge Clay mine, which holds the remains of many late Jurassic reptiles, including the sauropods, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs.
After finding the ichthyosaur, Etches found that the reptile’s teeth were abnormal and sought identification assistance from researchers at the University of Portsmouth.
Researcher Megan Jacobs was the one who identified ichthyosaur fossils belonging to a new genus and species. The 150 million-year-old reptile, scientifically known as Thalassodraco etchesi, is the smallest of the five current ichthyosaurs from the Late Jurassic period of England.
The largest known ichthyosaur species have mostly been recovered from Trias sediments in North America, whose skull is more than 5 meters long. Meanwhile, the skull of Thalassodraco etchesi is less than 60 cm long.
In addition to its unique teeth, the ichthyosaur also has a strange ribs and small flippers, suggesting its swimming motion may differ from its closest relative.
This extremely valuable fossil is currently on display in Etches’ museum, located in Dorset.
"I am delighted that this fossil ichthyosaur has been found to be a new product to science, and I am honored to be named after me. It’s amazing that new ichthyosaurs are still being found," Etches said. "This shows how diverse these astonishing animals were in the post-Jurassic seas," he found.
The Ichthyosaurs are one of the first groups of marine reptiles that first appeared in the Triassic, 248 million years ago. The Ichthyosaur species subsequently disappeared during the Late Cretaceous period, about 90 million years ago.
