New species of Jurassic ‘sword dragon’ present in UK

A skeleton discovered on Britain’s Jurassic Coast has been recognized as a brand new species of ichthyosaur, a kind of prehistoric marine reptile that when dominated the seas, scientists stated Friday.

Comparable in measurement to a dolphin, the ichthyosaur has been named Xiphodracon goldencapensis, or the “Sword Dragon of Dorset,” after the English county the place the near-complete skeleton was found.

It is “the only known example of its kind in existence and helps to fill an important gap in the evolutionary fossil record of ichthyosaurs,” the University of Manchester stated.

Ichthyosaur skilled Dean Lomax, an honorary analysis fellow on the college, led the three-strong staff of paleontologists who carried out the evaluation.

Ichthyosaurs had been reptiles who spent their lives underneath water. They aren’t thought of to have been dinosaurs.

The sword dragon dates again to the Pliensbachian interval, which occurred round 190 million years in the past.

The skeleton was found close to Golden Cap, in Dorset, in 2001, however has solely not too long ago been analyzed by paleontologists.

It features a cranium with an enormous eye socket and a protracted sword-like snout.

Scientists stated the animal would have been about three meters lengthy and would have eaten fish and squid.

The analysis was published on Friday within the Papers in Palaeontology journal.

The skeleton is because of go on show on the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

© 2025 AFP