A Peterborough quarry has become the latest site in England to be the epicentre of fossil discovery.
Jamie Jordan and a team of palaeontologists uncovered vertebrates which they believe belong to a ichthyosaur called Ophthalmosaurus. The animal is thought to be 155 million years old which continues a strong year of fossil finds for Jordan, who has a world-renowned reputation as a palaeontologistt
Jordan works as part of the Fossils Galore museum in Cambridgeshire which also uncovered a Steppe Mammoth tusk earlier this year which was thought to be 400,000 years old. The museum will be working hard to perserve and clean the fossils for their museum site.
“Ophthalmosaurus means an eye lizard in Greek,” he told the BBC.
“It was quite sticky and hazardous to get the bits out of the ground. We dug 20ft (6m) deep and found these still covered in clay.
“The creature would have been about 16ft long (5m). The remains we found indicate this is the rear end of the animal.
“We have used our regular dating techniques and its age is a rough estimate.”
While the quarry’s exact location has been kept under wraps, the Fossil Galore team are fundraising efforts to further explore the quarry site for more fossils. You can see the fundraiser here.