If you thought the megalodon was scary, think again. Scientists have officially identified a prehistoric creature whose jaws were probably as mighty as the meg’s, but whose size makes it the biggest marine reptile on the planet ever.
The beast's massive jawbone measured over two metres (6.6ft) – allowing it an incredible bone-crushing biting force. The megalodon’s was around the same size, while the Tyrannosaurus rex wielded a half-metre (1.6ft) sized jawbone.
Experts estimate the size of the new species, an enormous ichthyosaur, was a whopping 25m (82ft) long – about the size of a modern-day blue whale. (Megalodons were around 15-20m, or 65ft).
The fossilised remains of the beast were discovered on a beach in Somerset.
The research team have named the new species Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning 'giant fish lizard of the Severn.' Its bones are around 202 million years old, dating back to the end of the Triassic period. That means the marine reptile would have been swimming in the seas while dinosaurs roamed on land – just before the mass extinction event that wiped them out.
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The first jawbone of this mysterious species was discovered in 2016. But this new discovery was the confirmation scientists have been waiting for.
“We had hoped that one day another would come to light,” said Dr Dean Lomax, palaeontologist at the University of Manchester. “This new specimen is more complete, better preserved, and shows that we now have two of these giant bones – called a surangular – that have a unique shape and structure. I became very excited, to say the least.”
Lomax and his team then compared the two jawbones and realised that they shared several unique features and they came from the same geological period.
“These jawbones provide tantalising evidence that perhaps one day a complete skull or skeleton of one of these giants might be found,” Lomax said. “You never know.”
An 11-year-old girl named Ruby Reynolds discovered the new surangular on the beach in 2020. She and her father then joined a team determined to keep searching for more pieces to puzzle together into a complete specimen. They found the last piece of the jawbone in 2022.
Now 15, Ruby is already a published scientist, having helped to name the new species. She is listed as a contributor to the study published in journal PLoS ONE.
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