Marine Reptiles

A remarkably complete skeleton of a previously unknown ichthyosaur species has been identified from the UK's Jurassic Coast, offering fresh insights into prehistoric marine reptile evolution. The three-meter-long creature, named Xiphodracon goldencapensis and nicknamed the Sword Dragon of Dorset, dates back 190 million years to the Pliensbachian period. Its discovery helps clarify a key transition in ichthyosaur diversity during the Early Jurassic.