ISLE OF SKYE, Scotland, Jan. 11 (UPI) — An amateur collector named Brian Shawcross has discovered fossils of Scotland’s first known ichthyosaur.
The {link:fossils: “http://news.sciencemag.org/paleontology/2015/01/swimming-reptile-unearthed-scotland?rss=1″,nw} were collected on the coast of the Isle of Skye, and the specimen has been named Dearcmhara shawcrossi, after the collector. The ichthyosaur was a large ocean reptile that looks like a cross between a shark and an alligator, and it was roughly 13 feet long. They existed around 170 million years ago.
A close relative of the ichthyosaur was {link:discovered in China: “http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/11/05/Amphibious-ichthyosaur-ancient-sea-monster-fills-evolutionary-gap/1531415220253/”,nw} at the end of 2014, but it was the first discovered amphibious relative. The specimen discovered in China had fins meant for walking on land, and it looked more similar to a modern reptile. It would appear the Chinese fossils show the next evolutionary step for the ichthyosaur.
The findings are published in the {link:Scottish Journal of Geology: “http://sjg.lyellcollection.org/content/early/2015/01/07/sjg2014-018.abstract”,nw}.
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