Las 7 km long northern and eastern sections of the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road will serve as bypass for Leicestershire when construction is completed. However, the works to build this new section that will cross the city have stopped, informs the BBCdue to a monumental paleontological discovery.
Crews from contractors Galliford Try, a local construction company, have found the remains of a huge “sea monster” that lived more than 200 million years ago. Specifically, they found part of the skull of a ichthyosaurusand extinct marine reptilewhich Melton inhabited when it was submerged in a shallow ocean.
In 2021 A similar discovery was made in the nature reserve of Rutland Waterwhen Joe Davis, leader of the site’s conservation team, discovered the largest and most complete skeleton of its kind found to date in the United Kingdom.
When it was unearthed by a team of paleontologists, it was determined that the skeleton, about 180 million years old, measured around 10 meters long and a skull that weighed approximately a ton. It was also considered the first ichthyosaur of its species found in the country.
Computer generated 3D illustration with the extinct ichthyosaur Shonisaurus.
“The discovery has been absolutely fascinating and a real highlight in my career. It’s fantastic to learn so much from the discovery and to think that this incredible creature was once swimming in seas above us and now, once again, Rutland Water is a haven for wetland wildlife, albeit on a smaller scale“, Davis said in a statement after the discovery.
Ichthyosaurs first appeared about 250 million years ago and became extinct 90 million years ago. They were a extraordinary group of marine reptiles what They ranged in size from 1 to more than 25 meters long. They were of the first land animals that adapted to life in the open sea and developed a body shape similar to that of today’s whales or dolphins.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.es
