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- 1
- 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,199
- The remains of a dragon
- have just been discovered
- 2
- 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,919
- in the cliffs of Dorset on the
- south-east coast of England...
- 3
- 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,680
- one that has been hidden in the
- rocks for 200 million years.
- 4
- 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,839
- It was an enormous marine
- reptile that ruled the seas
- 5
- 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,400
- at the same time as the
- dinosaurs ruled the land.
- 6
- 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,560
- Scientifically, it's called an ichthyosaur.
- 7
- 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:54,759
- Since Jurassic times,
- 8
- 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,440
- its fossilized bones have been
- locked away in these cliffs.
- 9
- 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,039
- But now we have a chance to
- reveal it and its story.
- 10
- 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,160
- Lots and lots of bone in there.
- 11
- 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,359
- The bones are so well preserved,
- it may be able to give us
- 12
- 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,920
- new insights into the lives of
- these remarkable creatures.
- 13
- 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,719
- Together with a team of scientists,
- 14
- 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,200
- we will reconstruct the skeleton and
- compare it to animals alive today.
- 15
- 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,799
- We'll try to understand how it looked.
- 16
- 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,240
- We have actual preservation of
- the skin of our ichthyosaur.
- 17
- 00:01:36,241 --> 00:01:37,600
- How extraordinary!
- 18
- 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,360
- And how it survived in the open ocean.
- 19
- 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,320
- Could this be a completely
- new species of ichthyosaur?
- 20
- 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,399
- Our search for evidence will lead us
- 21
- 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,600
- into an intriguing forensic
- investigation into how it died.
- 22
- 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,400
- I think you're looking at a 200
- million year old murder mystery.
- 23
- 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,399
- Solving that mystery will throw
- light on the extraordinary world
- 24
- 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,760
- in the Jurassic seas that once
- existed just off our shores.
- 25
- 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,679
- The story of this extraordinary dragon
- 26
- 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,879
- starts here in Dorset on the
- south coast of England,
- 27
- 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,599
- one of the most important
- geological sites in the world...
- 28
- 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:34,560
- the Jurassic Coast.
- 29
- 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:44,480
- It stretches for almost 100
- miles from Devon to Dorset.
- 30
- 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,839
- And it was here that the early geologists
- 31
- 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,319
- first collected evidence that
- once the world was ruled
- 32
- 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:58,040
- by monstrous reptiles, quite unlike
- anything alive on Earth today.
- 33
- 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,599
- Evidence of creatures that
- existed all that time ago
- 34
- 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,040
- can still be found on these beaches.
- 35
- 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,919
- Fossil collectors have been coming
- here for literally centuries
- 36
- 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:22,279
- and these rapidly eroding
- cliffs are providing them
- 37
- 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,280
- with a continuous supply of
- exciting things to find.
- 38
- 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,319
- I started looking for
- fossils when I was a boy
- 39
- 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,399
- and I've never lost the
- feeling of excitement
- 40
- 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,240
- and anticipation of what
- one might discover.
- 41
- 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,879
- The commonest fossils here are
- coiled shells called ammonites
- 42
- 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,279
- and you can find them all over the place.
- 43
- 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,839
- There's one here on this boulder.
- 44
- 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,079
- You can see the whorls there,
- 45
- 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,639
- but it's mostly been worn away by the sea.
- 46
- 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,519
- But sometimes if you're lucky,
- you can find nodules like this
- 47
- 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:03,999
- and if you look at them,
- 48
- 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,759
- you can see there's the edge there
- of an ammonite and if I hit it...
- 49
- 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,880
- If I put on protective glasses
- and I hit it, it should...
- 50
- 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,079
- HE LAUGHS
- 51
- 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,239
- How about that?
- 52
- 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,280
- Wow!
- 53
- 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:25,640
- What a find!
- 54
- 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,759
- Ammonites, in fact, are
- quite common on this beach,
- 55
- 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,439
- but every now and again,
- something truly rare
- 56
- 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:41,439
- and spectacular is found here
- and quite often by this man...
- 57
- 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,720
- one of the most skilled
- fossil hunters I know.
- 58
- 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,639
- Chris Moore has been collecting
- fossils here for more than 30 years.
- 59
- 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,839
- Recently, he came across a boulder
- 60
- 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,080
- which he thought might
- contain something unusual.
- 61
- 00:04:58,560 --> 00:04:59,879
- Back in his workshop,
- 62
- 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,559
- he exposed a mosaic of small,
- beautifully preserved bones
- 63
- 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,199
- which he knew straight
- away were the front fins,
- 64
- 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,560
- the paddles, of an ichthyosaur.
- 65
- 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,960
- But they were unlike any
- he had ever seen before.
- 66
- 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,040
- I still collect fossils.
- 67
- 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,119
- I even have the remains of an ichthyosaur...
- 68
- 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,800
- a small one of a kind
- that's relatively common.
- 69
- 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,319
- This was collected by Chris
- about ten years ago in Dorset.
- 70
- 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,599
- I never found anything
- as beautiful as this.
- 71
- 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,360
- It's got jaws and it's got
- teeth and it's got paddles.
- 72
- 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,079
- And Dorset was the very first place
- 73
- 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,599
- where they found a really complete
- skeleton of one of these creatures.
- 74
- 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,439
- This is a picture of it,
- 75
- 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,919
- published for the very first time in 1814.
- 76
- 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:10,559
- People thought it was some kind
- of monster, but what was it?
- 77
- 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:15,999
- They thought it was a kind of cross
- between a reptile and a fish
- 78
- 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:22,680
- so they called it an ichthyosaur
- - A fish lizard or sea dragon.
- 79
- 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,879
- Since that time, many fossil
- fragments of ichthyosaurs
- 80
- 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,560
- have been discovered on the Jurassic Coast.
- 81
- 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,120
- But complete skeletons are very rare.
- 82
- 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,159
- The particular one that
- Chris has just found
- 83
- 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,840
- is significantly different from any
- that's ever been found here before.
- 84
- 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,959
- It's not easy to get to the
- beach where it was discovered.
- 85
- 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,520
- At high tide, the only
- way to do so is by boat.
- 86
- 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:05,159
- I asked Chris where the rest of
- the skeleton might still lie.
- 87
- 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,679
- It's in the very top limestone bed
- 88
- 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,119
- where the cliffs are at the lowest point.
- 89
- 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,639
- It's got about two metres on top of clay
- 90
- 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:15,320
- and we'll have to clear this material off
- 91
- 00:07:15,321 --> 00:07:17,079
- till we get to the limestone bed.
- 92
- 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,479
- It' a lot of hard work.
- 93
- 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,679
- It's a lot of digging, yeah, and
- also we have to do it, really,
- 94
- 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,319
- before the winter turns again
- and the weather gets bad
- 95
- 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,839
- because there's a chance
- that the next landslip
- 96
- 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,560
- will just push it off onto
- the beach and destroy it.
- 97
- 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,520
- In Jurassic times, sea
- covered all this area.
- 98
- 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,119
- On its floor, sediments
- washed down from the land
- 99
- 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,800
- turned into layers of shales and limestone.
- 100
- 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,319
- The land rose, the sea retreated
- 101
- 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,119
- and now in the rocks,
- 102
- 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,119
- you can find the remains of the creatures
- 103
- 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,160
- that once lived in those ancient waters.
- 104
- 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,759
- As well as the remains of ammonites,
- there are the bones of fish,
- 105
- 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,280
- such as sharks.
- 106
- 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:14,520
- But the top predators at this time
- were reptiles - ichthyosaurs.
- 107
- 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:23,400
- They dominated the seas for
- more than 150 million years.
- 108
- 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,479
- After getting permission to dig,
- 109
- 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:40,319
- the team clamber down the
- cliff to the particular layer
- 110
- 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,759
- where the rest of our ichthyosaur
- skeleton should be lying.
- 111
- 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,398
- I'm going to need at least another metre,
- 112
- 00:08:45,399 --> 00:08:46,960
- cos I need to drop down to the next bit.
- 113
- 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,039
- It's dangerous work.
- 114
- 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,880
- These cliffs occasionally
- collapse without warning.
- 115
- 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,839
- To make sure that they don't
- damage any of the fossils,
- 116
- 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,800
- the team do all the digging by hand.
- 117
- 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,600
- There's just loads of roots.
- 118
- 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,639
- Tonnes of clay have to be
- removed before they even reach
- 119
- 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:19,799
- the layer of limestone where they hope
- 120
- 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,879
- the rest of the bones still lie.
- 121
- 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:23,400
- Wayhey!
- 122
- 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,599
- It was on this very coast
- 123
- 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,720
- that the first complete skeleton
- of an ichthyosaur was discovered.
- 124
- 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,439
- It was found in the 19th century
- 125
- 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,920
- by a remarkable woman called Mary Anning.
- 126
- 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,839
- Mary lived in the little
- town of Lyme Regis,
- 127
- 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:49,320
- the daughter of a cabinet maker
- who collected fossils as a hobby.
- 128
- 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,479
- When Mary was only 11, her father died
- 129
- 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,439
- so she and her brother started
- selling fossils to visitors
- 130
- 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,720
- to support their widowed mother.
- 131
- 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:14,520
- Lyme Regis Museum now devotes a
- whole gallery to her and her finds.
- 132
- 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:22,919
- Mary had an extraordinary talent
- for finding fossils and in 1811,
- 133
- 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,599
- she discovered this gigantic creature,
- 134
- 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,320
- the like of which no-one
- had ever seen before.
- 135
- 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,399
- Dinosaurs had not yet been discovered.
- 136
- 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,679
- No-one had any idea that
- way back in pre-history,
- 137
- 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:39,839
- there were such gigantic creatures,
- 138
- 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,240
- so this caused a sensation.
- 139
- 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,479
- It was then that the
- popular name "sea dragon"
- 140
- 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,920
- was given to these prehistoric monsters.
- 141
- 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,559
- Scientists speculated on how they lived
- 142
- 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:59,919
- and artists tried to imagine
- what they must have looked like
- 143
- 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,440
- and how they behaved.
- 144
- 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,800
- Back at the cliff face, Chris
- and his team are hard at it.
- 145
- 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,040
- But they haven't found any more bones.
- 146
- 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,199
- This is a massive piece. Tombstone!
- 147
- 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:32,719
- Right, ready?
- 148
- 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,279
- Chris is convinced that the skeleton
- to which the paddles belonged
- 149
- 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,799
- must be somewhere here and
- they check every rock.
- 150
- 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,120
- Beautiful shale!
- 151
- 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,759
- - Lovely!
- - Anything interesting?
- - Moment of truth...
- 152
- 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,439
- Nothing.
- 153
- 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:58,680
- - Just push it off.
- - Yeah.
- 154
- 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:05,159
- Is there anything showing?
- 155
- 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:06,999
- Nothing else here.
- 156
- 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,520
- Oh, gosh, that's hard work.
- 157
- 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,319
- I hope there's something here.
- 158
- 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,040
- I almost don't want to look!
- 159
- 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:21,679
- - Ah!
- - What have you found?
- 160
- 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:25,919
- - There's a bone.
- - Loads of bone going all the way... There's bone there.
- 161
- 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,680
- - There's something here!
- - HE LAUGHS
- 162
- 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,599
- At long last, the team's
- efforts are rewarded.
- 163
- 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,319
- We've got some bones here!
- 164
- 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,559
- - There's loads of bones.
- - Fantastic!
- 165
- 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:42,239
- Ah! What's this?
- 166
- 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,279
- Is that a vertebrae?
- 167
- 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,039
- But the bones are not in the position
- 168
- 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,359
- the team had expected to find them.
- 169
- 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,639
- Instead of lying across
- the face of the cliff,
- 170
- 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,799
- the skeleton seems to be
- bending back into it.
- 171
- 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,759
- We're going to have to
- go down through there.
- 172
- 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,440
- It means much more work.
- 173
- 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:06,680
- And to make matters worse,
- a storm is brewing.
- 174
- 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,359
- The rain is just starting,
- 175
- 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,720
- but I think we've got to
- make a bit of a run for it.
- 176
- 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,879
- We won't be working any more in this
- for the moment. It's torrential.
- 177
- 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,039
- Beautiful rainbow, though.
- 178
- 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,040
- A rainbow will be little
- comfort if the storm persists.
- 179
- 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,519
- Rough seas and heavy downpours
- can cause landslips,
- 180
- 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,240
- which could easily destroy any
- chance of retrieving the bones.
- 181
- 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,599
- It was after just such a storm
- that Chris found the front limbs,
- 182
- 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,160
- the paddles of our sea dragon.
- 183
- 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,519
- They convinced him that the
- fossil was something special.
- 184
- 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,839
- VOICEOVER: You can see why
- when you compare them
- 185
- 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:01,998
- VOICEOVER: to the paddles
- of the kind of ichthyosaur
- 186
- 00:14:01,999 --> 00:14:03,640
- VOICEOVER: that's usually found here.
- 187
- 00:14:03,641 --> 00:14:08,159
- This is an adult and this is
- the paddle of this creature
- 188
- 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,960
- and if you compare it to this one...
- 189
- 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:21,159
- - Oh, it's huge. Oh, yeah.
- - I've never seen anything quite like it.
- 190
- 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,559
- There are half a dozen rows of
- digits there and how many there?
- 191
- 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,359
- I think there's at least
- nine or ten crossways
- 192
- 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,679
- and obviously, you know,
- many more in length.
- 193
- 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,439
- It's getting on for twice
- the number of digits.
- 194
- 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,599
- - And the whole shape of the fin is completely...
- - Quite different.
- 195
- 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,359
- And must be new, therefore?
- 196
- 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,119
- - I think so. I've never seen anything quite like it.
- - How exciting!
- 197
- 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,239
- VOICEOVER: It's extremely rare to find
- 198
- 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,999
- VOICEOVER: a new species
- of ichthyosaur these days.
- 199
- 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:53,519
- Only nine have been discovered
- here in the last 200 years.
- 200
- 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,799
- But can these strange
- paddles tell us something
- 201
- 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,440
- about how this odd ichthyosaur lived?
- 202
- 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,400
- To try and find out, we are going to
- construct a three-dimensional model.
- 203
- 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,679
- To do that, we first need to
- have the paddles scanned.
- 204
- 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,680
- So, Chris is taking them
- to Southampton University.
- 205
- 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,719
- Here, the engineering department
- has one of the largest
- 206
- 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,600
- high resolution scanners in the country.
- 207
- 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:30,960
- It's not every day someone walks in
- 208
- 00:15:30,961 --> 00:15:34,360
- with a 200-million-year-old sea reptile.
- 209
- 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:44,319
- The machine can scan objects of
- all different shapes and sizes
- 210
- 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,480
- from ancient coins to the
- components of spacecraft.
- 211
- 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,719
- To create a picture, the scanner
- takes thousands of X-ray images
- 212
- 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,400
- in cross sections through
- the fossil as it rotates.
- 213
- 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,080
- It's not long before the
- first images appear.
- 214
- 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,600
- That's amazing. It looks really clear.
- 215
- 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,079
- You can even see the bones
- laying underneath the paddle.
- 216
- 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,038
- At the moment, we're
- just doing one section.
- 217
- 00:16:22,039 --> 00:16:24,200
- We're going to do multiple
- scans down the specimen
- 218
- 00:16:24,201 --> 00:16:26,839
- and build it all back together
- into a three-dimensional volume.
- 219
- 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:31,560
- The scans of the paddles are
- sent to Bristol University.
- 220
- 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,919
- Here, scientists can isolate the
- image of each bone within the rock
- 221
- 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,520
- and then assemble them to create a
- detailed three-dimensional model.
- 222
- 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,439
- The team is particularly
- excited by the shape
- 223
- 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,160
- and structure of these paddles
- and I've come to find out why.
- 224
- 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,799
- We've got a complete paddle here
- taken from the bones itself,
- 225
- 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,119
- fully reconstructed, rearticulated
- 226
- 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,879
- so this is as close as we can get
- to what it would have looked like.
- 227
- 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:07,479
- We can actually start using
- this paddle to try and tell us
- 228
- 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,119
- what species it might have been.
- 229
- 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:11,159
- Because of the size of the paddle
- 230
- 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,799
- and the way that some of these
- bones articulate with each other,
- 231
- 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,119
- it's different to other ichthyosaurus
- 232
- 00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:18,239
- and so this could be a new species.
- 233
- 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,839
- - That would be great.
- - It would be jolly exciting.
- 234
- 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:25,319
- VOICEOVER: We won't know for sure
- until we find the rest of the body,
- 235
- 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,399
- but can the paddles tell us something
- 236
- 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,199
- about the way in which this creature swam?
- 237
- 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,519
- There are a lot of bones in this paddle,
- 238
- 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,199
- which would have been
- good for holding steady
- 239
- 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,959
- and also for allowing it to
- be manoeuvrable in the water.
- 240
- 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,079
- - There would have been cartilage
- round that, wouldn't there? - Yes.
- 241
- 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:42,558
- All of the gaps between the bones
- 242
- 00:17:42,559 --> 00:17:44,398
- would have been filled in with cartilage
- 243
- 00:17:44,399 --> 00:17:46,360
- and even further around the paddle itself,
- 244
- 00:17:46,361 --> 00:17:48,919
- giving it a paddle-like shape,
- giving it a cross section
- 245
- 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:50,399
- a bit like an aerofoil
- 246
- 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,840
- so that it could cut
- straight through the water.
- 247
- 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,759
- - Could they fold them in to the side?
- - Probably not.
- 248
- 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,678
- Looking at the muscles
- and where they attach,
- 249
- 00:17:59,679 --> 00:18:01,518
- it suggests these are moving up and down,
- 250
- 00:18:01,519 --> 00:18:02,878
- helping it to turn very quickly
- 251
- 00:18:02,879 --> 00:18:04,800
- or keeping it on the straight and narrow
- 252
- 00:18:04,801 --> 00:18:07,440
- when it wants to be a little more sedate.
- 253
- 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,799
- The shape of the paddles
- and the way they moved
- 254
- 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:20,120
- seems very like the way an animal
- alive today uses its paddles.
- 255
- 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,119
- That animal usually lives
- in tropical waters
- 256
- 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,120
- like these in the Caribbean.
- 257
- 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:29,679
- The sea here is warm
- 258
- 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,799
- with temperatures much
- like they would have been
- 259
- 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,920
- in Jurassic times around Britain.
- 260
- 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,399
- And the animal in question...
- 261
- 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,280
- is the dolphin.
- 262
- 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,920
- Dolphins, of course, are mammals,
- not reptiles like ichthyosaurs.
- 263
- 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:54,680
- Nonetheless, the two groups have
- bodies shaped in very similar ways.
- 264
- 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,719
- The front fins or paddles of both
- 265
- 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,678
- would have helped to steady themselves
- 266
- 00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:03,640
- as they turn and cut through the water.
- 267
- 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,000
- And both have similar dorsal fins.
- 268
- 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,799
- So, although they lived
- 200 million years apart,
- 269
- 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:19,079
- dolphins and ichthyosaurs share
- many physical characteristics
- 270
- 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,279
- and that's because they
- evolved in similar ways
- 271
- 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,280
- as a response to a similar environment.
- 272
- 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,159
- Like dolphins,
- 273
- 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,279
- ichthyosaurs evolved from ancestors
- that had once lived on land.
- 274
- 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,359
- As they became adapted to life in water,
- 275
- 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,599
- they lost the ability to walk,
- 276
- 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,879
- their bodies became more streamlined
- 277
- 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,920
- and their forelimbs turned into
- paddles to help them swim.
- 278
- 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:59,840
- But ichthyosaurs do differ from
- dolphins in two striking ways.
- 279
- 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,559
- Dolphins have tails that
- are flattened horizontally
- 280
- 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:14,200
- and they drive themselves forward
- by beating their tails up and down.
- 281
- 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,479
- But we know from their fossils
- that ichthyosaur tails
- 282
- 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,079
- were flattened vertically
- like those of sharks,
- 283
- 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,919
- so they must have swum
- in the same sort of way
- 284
- 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,720
- by sweeping their tails from side to side.
- 285
- 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:37,599
- Ichthyosaurs, unlike dolphins,
- also had back paddles.
- 286
- 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,360
- They, too, would have helped
- stabilise them as they swam.
- 287
- 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,519
- And what's more, the
- paddles of our ichthyosaur
- 288
- 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,839
- are particularly large and long,
- 289
- 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:56,000
- rather like those of the
- oceanic whitetip shark.
- 290
- 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,679
- That shape helps the whitetip
- to cruise for long distances
- 291
- 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,480
- with very little expenditure of
- energy in their search for food.
- 292
- 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,959
- So, it could be that our ichthyosaur
- was also a long-distance traveller
- 293
- 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:23,519
- and only an infrequent visitor
- to the Lyme Regis seas,
- 294
- 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:28,600
- which could be why no-one has ever
- found one of these here before.
- 295
- 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,680
- Back at the dig site, the
- rain has stopped at last.
- 296
- 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,680
- But the storm is a reminder
- that winter is on its way.
- 297
- 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,879
- The team must try to extract
- the rest of the dragon's body
- 298
- 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,440
- before worse weather arrives.
- 299
- 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:56,639
- That's how hard the rock is.
- 300
- 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,839
- It's actually smashed
- the end off the chisel.
- 301
- 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,080
- So, you can see what we're dealing with.
- 302
- 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:16,239
- At last, they find signs of
- the rest of the skeleton.
- 303
- 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,359
- - Lots and lots of bone in there.
- - Yeah.
- 304
- 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,199
- Ribs and all sorts of stuff.
- 305
- 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,159
- And there's another particularly
- exciting discovery.
- 306
- 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,359
- - Is there skin?
- - Yeah, look.
- - Oh, really?
- 307
- 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:32,479
- They've found signs of fossilized skin.
- 308
- 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,159
- Rare, isn't it?
- 309
- 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:35,720
- Yeah, very rare.
- 310
- 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,159
- The blocks that contain bones and skin
- 311
- 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,079
- can't be thrown down like the other rocks.
- 312
- 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,800
- They must be carefully strapped
- up and gently lowered.
- 313
- 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,439
- That's the first block down.
- 314
- 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,720
- A few more to go, but if they go
- like that, I'll be very pleased.
- 315
- 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:02,520
- Two weeks after they started work, I
- go down again to check on progress.
- 316
- 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:09,239
- - How's it going?
- - Well, quite well so far.
- - A lot shifted.
- 317
- 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,480
- - Yeah, about 20 tonnes of it, I think.
- - Really?
- - Yes.
- 318
- 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,959
- How's it doing? Is it caught?
- 319
- 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,799
- - No, it's OK.
- - It's OK? Yeah.
- 320
- 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:20,719
- What do you reckon's in it?
- 321
- 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,679
- This block's got vertebrae,
- the other part of the ribcage
- 322
- 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,080
- and it's definitely got the
- back paddles in there.
- 323
- 00:23:27,081 --> 00:23:29,879
- You can see a cross section through them.
- 324
- 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,119
- VOICEOVER: While the team continue
- lowering the huge blocks,
- 325
- 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,959
- VOICEOVER: Chris shows me what
- they've already collected.
- 326
- 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,639
- So, lots over here.
- 327
- 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,639
- - Ah, well, I can see something there.
- - Ah!
- 328
- 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,720
- - That's more obvious, yeah.
- - Yeah.
- 329
- 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,519
- Here, you can see,
- glinting in the sunlight,
- 330
- 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,399
- sections through the backbone,
- the vertebral column.
- 331
- 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:53,879
- Wow!
- 332
- 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,119
- And these are the ribs that are
- still attached to the vertebrae
- 333
- 00:23:58,120 --> 00:23:59,999
- and these are the neurals
- 334
- 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,320
- that come off the backbone.
- 335
- 00:24:01,321 --> 00:24:03,320
- The spines off the top of the back.
- 336
- 00:24:03,321 --> 00:24:07,199
- - Yeah, but they've actually got skin preserved on them.
- - No, really? - Yeah.
- 337
- 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,999
- - Can you see that here?
- - Well, that's the very black.
- 338
- 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,639
- You can see it on the impression as well.
- 339
- 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,959
- VOICEOVER: This is great news,
- but something puzzles me.
- 340
- 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,719
- Would the head have been
- on this side or that side?
- 341
- 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,040
- Most likely here in this next slab.
- 342
- 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,319
- - And it's not there?
- - Not so far.
- 343
- 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,439
- Oh, boy!
- 344
- 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,479
- How many more tonnes to go?
- 345
- 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,240
- HE SIGHS, THEY LAUGH
- 346
- 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,520
- - Only a few!
- - THEY LAUGH
- 347
- 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,280
- OK.
- 348
- 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,879
- Once the blocks are down on the beach,
- 349
- 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,399
- the team remove as much
- excess limestone as possible
- 350
- 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:57,999
- to make them lighter.
- 351
- 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,199
- Even then, they're extremely heavy
- 352
- 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,519
- so to get them back to Lyme Regis,
- 353
- 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,360
- they're loaded onto a pontoon
- and towed back by boat.
- 354
- 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,719
- So, for the first time
- in 200 million years,
- 355
- 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,000
- our strange ichthyosaur once
- again takes to the water.
- 356
- 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,439
- The dig may be over,
- 357
- 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,439
- but the investigation
- is only just beginning.
- 358
- 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,039
- WHIRRING
- 359
- 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,479
- Now, the work becomes more delicate,
- involving not sledgehammers,
- 360
- 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,679
- but small vibrating chisels
- 361
- 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,760
- that chip off the limestone in tiny flakes.
- 362
- 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,240
- It's detailed work that will
- take months to complete.
- 363
- 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,160
- It's like a jigsaw puzzle
- of things you can't see.
- 364
- 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,760
- It's almost forensic.
- 365
- 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,559
- You don't know the story, you don't
- know what's inside the block
- 366
- 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,640
- until you reveal it.
- 367
- 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,719
- I've never seen in all my years an
- ichthyosaur that looked like this
- 368
- 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,879
- so every other part of the
- skeleton that we reveal
- 369
- 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,679
- is very exciting cos you're never
- quite sure what's going on,
- 370
- 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,080
- what it's going to look like and
- it is, it's very different.
- 371
- 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,359
- Day after day and week after week,
- 372
- 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:55,200
- Chris and his team work patiently
- to expose more of the skeleton.
- 373
- 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:01,560
- And as they do so, the bones
- reveal something very intriguing.
- 374
- 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,640
- I've come down to Chris'
- workshop to take a look.
- 375
- 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,720
- It's a bit of squeeze past the plesiosaur.
- 376
- 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,880
- VOICEOVER: It really is an Aladdin's cave.
- 377
- 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:21,920
- VOICEOVER; After weeks of work,
- 378
- 00:27:21,921 --> 00:27:25,000
- VOICEOVER: Chris has exposed
- the backbones and ribs.
- 379
- 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,959
- So, this is it so far.
- 380
- 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,399
- VOICEOVER: And in doing so, he's
- made a startling discovery.
- 381
- 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,639
- It looks like it's been attacked.
- 382
- 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,119
- - Gosh!
- - There's breakages all through the ribcage.
- 383
- 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,319
- If you follow one rib, you
- go along here, down to here,
- 384
- 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:45,599
- then this piece corresponds to
- this, which then goes over to here
- 385
- 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:50,279
- so one rib is now broken into three pieces.
- 386
- 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:54,559
- How extraordinary! But
- what's happened here?
- 387
- 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,759
- Here, the vertebral column's
- been actually pulled away.
- 388
- 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,639
- I'm fairly positive it was
- done in life and the paddles,
- 389
- 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,679
- the flippers have been ripped off.
- 390
- 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:07,760
- Where would they go?
- 391
- 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,519
- But they're in a very odd
- position, aren't they?
- 392
- 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,119
- I mean, they're pointing
- in the wrong direction.
- 393
- 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:24,119
- They should be basically in this position
- 394
- 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:25,839
- and facing the other way up
- 395
- 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,159
- and they've been ripped
- off and turned over.
- 396
- 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:30,760
- Gosh!
- 397
- 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:33,200
- Well, where was the head?
- 398
- 00:28:33,201 --> 00:28:35,559
- The head should be here.
- 399
- 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,719
- - That's the very last vertebrae.
- - Back of the neck?
- - Yeah.
- 400
- 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,599
- So, the head's been torn off
- and there's no evidence.
- 401
- 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,559
- There's no teeth or pieces of bone.
- It's completely gone.
- 402
- 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:52,559
- - So, it's a murder.
- - Yes!
- - Really?
- 403
- 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:53,800
- Yeah, I think it was killed.
- 404
- 00:28:53,801 --> 00:28:57,519
- - Did this predator crunch the head, do you think?
- - Who knows?
- 405
- 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,439
- It's 200 millions years ago,
- 406
- 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,279
- so it's a bit of guesswork,
- really, isn't it?
- 407
- 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:06,920
- So, it's a murder story
- without a complete body yet.
- 408
- 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,880
- To find out more, we need to
- reveal the rest of the skeleton.
- 409
- 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,760
- So it's all hands on deck.
- 410
- 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,520
- They've even roped me in.
- 411
- 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,000
- This is more difficult than it looks.
- 412
- 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,040
- Very good!
- 413
- 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,400
- Could you start on three days a week?
- 414
- 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,360
- - Is it all right?
- - It's good, yeah.
- - I haven't gone too close to the bone?
- 415
- 00:30:03,361 --> 00:30:05,960
- - No, no.
- - Phew, that's a relief!
- 416
- 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,920
- But what of the missing head?
- 417
- 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:13,639
- If it was ripped off,
- 418
- 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,639
- Chris thinks he might
- still be able to find it
- 419
- 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,599
- somewhere on the beach,
- 420
- 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:20,719
- so at every opportunity,
- 421
- 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,720
- he scours the area where
- the first block was found.
- 422
- 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,479
- The best time to look is after a storm
- 423
- 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,919
- when a strong sea has
- moved sand and shingle
- 424
- 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,640
- and perhaps revealed the rocks beneath.
- 425
- 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:55,479
- To try and deduce just how our
- ichthyosaur met its fate,
- 426
- 00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:00,119
- we've sent images of the fossil
- to someone who specialises
- 427
- 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,280
- in investigating the cause of
- death in prehistoric animals.
- 428
- 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,879
- You sent me some photographs and I
- had a look at some of these breaks.
- 429
- 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,839
- Now, first of all, I noticed this, here.
- 430
- 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,079
- If you look, you can just see this
- bulbous piece on the rib here.
- 431
- 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,639
- This is where the rib has
- healed after a break
- 432
- 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,599
- and the animal's gone
- on to live another day.
- 433
- 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,119
- There's a bite mark here that runs
- all the way up the paddle bones.
- 434
- 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:26,998
- You can see that it's healed as well.
- 435
- 00:31:26,999 --> 00:31:28,920
- Yeah, it's definitely an old injury.
- 436
- 00:31:28,921 --> 00:31:32,719
- - This animal's had a little bit of a bad start in life.
- - Yeah.
- 437
- 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,359
- But some of the other breaks
- tell a different story.
- 438
- 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,759
- If you look down here and
- especially this one,
- 439
- 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,959
- this fracture here mirrors
- that fracture there
- 440
- 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,999
- and then we can see a
- whole line of fractures
- 441
- 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,559
- where there's no new bone growth.
- 442
- 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,759
- Something has actually
- crushed this ribcage.
- 443
- 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,279
- So look here at these neural spines.
- 444
- 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,439
- These are absolutely perfect
- 445
- 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,719
- and then from here, they're
- broken all the way down to here.
- 446
- 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,119
- This is the last one that's
- broken and then here,
- 447
- 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:05,679
- they're perfect again.
- 448
- 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,399
- So, there to there is damaged.
- 449
- 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,839
- On the ribs, there to there
- is damaged and here, too,
- 450
- 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,239
- and also on some of these belly ribs
- 451
- 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,079
- so I think there's a bite
- which goes right across here.
- 452
- 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:24,679
- That probably reflects the width of
- the skull of the animal that bit it.
- 453
- 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,639
- Yeah, yeah. So it came
- in across here, almost.
- 454
- 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:29,239
- Somewhere like that, yeah.
- 455
- 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,039
- There was a massive bite, it
- caused catastrophic injury
- 456
- 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,959
- and, remember, the ribcage
- is protecting lungs.
- 457
- 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,839
- This was an air-breathing
- marine animal and as a swimmer,
- 458
- 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,159
- these lungs are vital not just for
- breathing, but for its buoyancy.
- 459
- 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,999
- So, once this ribcage is punctured
- and the lungs are punctured,
- 460
- 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,399
- this animal is dead.
- 461
- 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:50,560
- It can't breathe
- 462
- 00:32:50,561 --> 00:32:53,239
- and also it's going to sink straight
- down to the sea floor as well.
- 463
- 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,799
- It's quite likely that the
- animal that killed this animal,
- 464
- 00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,919
- presumably it was looking for food,
- 465
- 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:01,479
- it didn't get to eat it.
- 466
- 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,559
- Oh, no, I think it just killed it.
- 467
- 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,560
- It didn't eat it, or else
- it wouldn't be so intact.
- 468
- 00:33:05,561 --> 00:33:08,599
- So this probably all took
- place in the surface water,
- 469
- 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:10,679
- but as soon as it's done this injury,
- 470
- 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,959
- this thing just sank like a stone
- straight down to the sea floor
- 471
- 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,719
- and then it was lost to the
- animal that was trying to eat it.
- 472
- 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:21,920
- So, it looks as if Chris'
- attack theory might be right.
- 473
- 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,039
- But what type of creature
- could possibly have inflicted
- 474
- 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,000
- so much damage to our sea dragon?
- 475
- 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:35,320
- A rather unusual fossil in Chris'
- collection might give us a clue.
- 476
- 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:48,399
- This is fossilised ichthyosaur
- droppings called a coprolite
- 477
- 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,799
- and what makes it particularly interesting
- 478
- 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:56,760
- is that within this piece of
- dung, you can see fish scales.
- 479
- 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:04,159
- So, that shows that
- ichthyosaurs were fish eaters,
- 480
- 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,879
- but more than that, this one
- is even more interesting
- 481
- 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:17,239
- because in this piece of dung, there
- are teeth - ichthyosaur teeth.
- 482
- 00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:23,599
- So, the animal that produced this
- was almost certainly a cannibal.
- 483
- 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,400
- It ate other ichthyosaur species.
- 484
- 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:33,040
- Could it be that our dragon was
- killed by one of its own kind?
- 485
- 00:34:40,720 --> 00:34:42,639
- To find out more,
- 486
- 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:46,600
- I've come to the Natural History
- Museum of Stuttgart in Germany.
- 487
- 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,919
- Here, they have one of the most impressive
- 488
- 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,000
- and varied collections of
- ichthyosaurs in the world.
- 489
- 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:02,519
- They came in all shapes and sizes,
- 490
- 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,999
- but of all the ichthyosaurs that
- existed 200 million years ago,
- 491
- 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,200
- there was one which was
- particularly fearsome.
- 492
- 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,319
- This is temnodontosaurus,
- 493
- 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,879
- one of the biggest of the sea
- dragons so far discovered.
- 494
- 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,799
- They grew up to 10m long
- 495
- 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,439
- and individual bones have
- been discovered which suggest
- 496
- 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,000
- that they could grow even bigger than that.
- 497
- 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,279
- The remains of these
- terrifying sea monsters
- 498
- 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,719
- were discovered in a quarry
- just outside Stuttgart.
- 499
- 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:51,320
- These are the biggest complete
- temnodontosaurus fossils ever found.
- 500
- 00:35:54,040 --> 00:36:01,319
- This huge predator had the
- largest eye known of any animal,
- 501
- 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,759
- which would have given it
- extremely acute eyesight.
- 502
- 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,959
- Not only that, but the eye was surrounded
- 503
- 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,119
- by a ring of scutes - bony plates...
- 504
- 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,720
- to protect it from the
- water pressure at depth.
- 505
- 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,319
- So, with eyes the size of footballs,
- 506
- 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:24,280
- this monster was able to hunt at
- all depths of the Jurassic ocean.
- 507
- 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:38,079
- It also had rows of sharp teeth
- 508
- 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,920
- that would have allowed it to
- rip apart almost anything.
- 509
- 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:49,120
- These teeth are shaped like blades,
- well suited for cutting into flesh.
- 510
- 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,359
- And here's another specimen
- of temnodontosaurus
- 511
- 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,240
- that is proof positive that
- it really was a hunter.
- 512
- 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:04,279
- Here is its stomach and inside its stomach,
- 513
- 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:08,159
- you can see these tiny
- little circular bones,
- 514
- 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:13,200
- which are the backbones, the
- vertebrae, of a baby ichthyosaur.
- 515
- 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,519
- So we now know that temnodontosaurus
- 516
- 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,119
- could devour young ichthyosaurs,
- 517
- 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,639
- but would one have been capable
- 518
- 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:27,080
- of eating an adult ichthyosaur like ours?
- 519
- 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,399
- Fossils of temnodontosaurus have
- been found in other regions,
- 520
- 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,200
- including our own Jurassic Coast.
- 521
- 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:42,200
- So, this monster could
- well be our prime suspect.
- 522
- 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:45,999
- To build our case further,
- 523
- 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,559
- we're going to analyse another
- specimen of the same species
- 524
- 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,520
- that was found on the Jurassic Coast.
- 525
- 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,119
- This is the skull of a temnodontosaurus
- 526
- 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,759
- and as you can see, it's huge.
- 527
- 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,679
- This specimen was found by Mary Anning
- 528
- 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:08,359
- on the Dorset coast in the 19th century
- 529
- 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,119
- and we are hoping that
- we may be able to use it
- 530
- 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,679
- with the latest techniques
- 531
- 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:19,039
- to tell us just how powerful
- these great jaws could be.
- 532
- 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:22,879
- So, for the first time ever,
- our team of scientists
- 533
- 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,999
- are going to attempt to calculate
- 534
- 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,800
- the bite strength of a temnodontosaurus.
- 535
- 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,800
- The first step is to scan the skull.
- 536
- 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:38,159
- Not as easy as it sounds.
- 537
- 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,039
- Very few scanners are big enough,
- 538
- 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,839
- but there's one here at the
- Royal Veterinary College,
- 539
- 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,800
- where they're more accustomed
- to scanning horses.
- 540
- 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:57,600
- The temnodontosaurus skull is 2m
- long and weighs more than 200kg.
- 541
- 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:01,559
- Luckily, it's in two pieces.
- 542
- 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:05,920
- Otherwise it couldn't be fitted
- into even this huge scanner.
- 543
- 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:09,720
- OK. One, two, three and up.
- 544
- 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,239
- These scans will help the team
- 545
- 00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:28,919
- to not only reconstruct the
- temnodontosaurus' skull,
- 546
- 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,599
- but also work out the
- size of its jaw muscles.
- 547
- 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:36,279
- They can then assess the power
- of this huge predator's bite
- 548
- 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:41,040
- and see if it was strong enough
- to kill our ichthyosaur.
- 549
- 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:44,719
- Temnodontosaurs are unusual
- 550
- 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,799
- in that they had huge, sharp
- teeth for cutting through flesh,
- 551
- 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,559
- but how did other ichthyosaurs
- catch their prey?
- 552
- 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:57,400
- To get a clue, I've come to see a
- modern day predator in action.
- 553
- 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:15,320
- That is a gharial crocodile from Indonesia.
- 554
- 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,639
- Its jaws, as you can see,
- are not wide and flat
- 555
- 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,919
- like an African crocodile's,
- 556
- 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,319
- but long and thin and
- because of that shape,
- 557
- 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,599
- there's very little resistance to the water
- 558
- 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:32,880
- so they can snatch fish, which
- they do very effectively.
- 559
- 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:39,000
- They're very formidable animals indeed.
- 560
- 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:59,319
- Ichthyosaurs must have fed in
- much the same way as that.
- 561
- 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,439
- Their jaws were very similar
- to those of the gharial...
- 562
- 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:08,679
- simple studs to grip the
- prey, no need to chew it
- 563
- 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:11,239
- because the jaws at the
- back were quite big enough
- 564
- 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:14,039
- to enable the animal to
- swallow their prey whole,
- 565
- 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,200
- just as the gharial does.
- 566
- 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,159
- Gharials regularly shed their teeth
- 567
- 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,239
- and here's one I've just
- picked out of this pool.
- 568
- 00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:33,439
- You can see that they're very simple
- teeth, just like ichthyosaur teeth.
- 569
- 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,680
- But that's all you need if all you
- have to do is to grab a fish.
- 570
- 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:51,399
- So, it's likely that our ichthyosaur
- had teeth and jaws specially adapted
- 571
- 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,439
- to catch small, slippery fish and squid,
- 572
- 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:58,000
- just like a gharial crocodile.
- 573
- 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:07,160
- Back in Lyme Regis, the work on the
- bones has taken a dramatic turn.
- 574
- 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,399
- Chris has found that
- there is fossilized skin
- 575
- 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,999
- over nearly the whole skeleton.
- 576
- 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,600
- It seems to be virtually
- covering the whole thing.
- 577
- 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,399
- It's rare to find any sign
- whatever of skin on fossils,
- 578
- 00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:25,160
- let alone so much of it.
- 579
- 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,239
- Fiann Smithwick, an expert
- on fossilized skin,
- 580
- 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,039
- has come to take a sample back to his lab.
- 581
- 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,079
- We can look and see if there's any evidence
- 582
- 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,119
- of the original pigment
- preserved in the skin.
- 583
- 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:41,479
- - Oh, that's a lovely piece.
- - That's really good. That'll be perfect.
- 584
- 00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:45,159
- Fiann hopes that this
- remarkably preserved sample
- 585
- 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:49,120
- might tell us what the skin looked
- like and even what colour it was.
- 586
- 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:52,719
- At the University of Bristol,
- 587
- 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:57,519
- he places a tiny sample of the
- fossilized skin in a machine
- 588
- 00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:01,360
- that coats its surface with
- minute particles of gold.
- 589
- 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:17,680
- They will reflect the rays of a
- scanning electron microscope.
- 590
- 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:24,039
- It's astonishing that you can actually see
- 591
- 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,920
- the remains of skin on
- such an ancient fossil.
- 592
- 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:35,119
- But this microscope can
- also magnify its structure
- 593
- 00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:37,560
- tens of thousands of times.
- 594
- 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:49,639
- Here, we have an exceptional level
- of preservation of the skin
- 595
- 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:52,399
- of our ichthyosaur, despite
- being 200 million years old,
- 596
- 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,080
- so the structures we're looking at here
- 597
- 00:43:54,081 --> 00:43:56,599
- are around half a micrometre across
- 598
- 00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:58,719
- and a micrometre is one
- millionth of a metre
- 599
- 00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:01,599
- and you see here these little granules
- 600
- 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,479
- and these are preserved melanosomes.
- 601
- 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:08,719
- Now, melanosomes contain the pigment
- that you have in mammal hair,
- 602
- 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:12,319
- in bird feathers and in reptile
- skin and the abundance of them
- 603
- 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:14,080
- and the distribution of them can tell us
- 604
- 00:44:14,081 --> 00:44:16,159
- about the overall colour
- patterns of the animal.
- 605
- 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:18,719
- So, having a high abundance means
- you're likely to be darker
- 606
- 00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:21,200
- and having a low abundance means
- you're likely to be lighter.
- 607
- 00:44:21,201 --> 00:44:24,399
- This area has come from the back.
- 608
- 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,439
- There's a large abundance
- of these melanosomes.
- 609
- 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:27,758
- There's a lot of pigment here
- 610
- 00:44:27,759 --> 00:44:29,040
- and when we look at samples
- 611
- 00:44:29,041 --> 00:44:31,399
- that have come from the
- bottom of the animal,
- 612
- 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:34,559
- we don't see this pigment
- in this level of abundance
- 613
- 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:38,159
- so it most likely had a much
- darker back than it did a belly
- 614
- 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,399
- and this conforms to a
- type of colour pattern
- 615
- 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:42,640
- known as countershading in modern animals.
- 616
- 00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:48,479
- You can see countershading in
- lots of sea animals today.
- 617
- 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:50,800
- Great white sharks, for example.
- 618
- 00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:00,159
- Both predators and prey
- are coloured in this way.
- 619
- 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:04,360
- It makes them more difficult to
- see both from above and below.
- 620
- 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:09,120
- So, this is the first time
- that we've actually seen
- 621
- 00:45:09,121 --> 00:45:11,959
- evidence of a countershaded
- pattern in an ichthyosaur.
- 622
- 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:15,079
- So, that really is a step
- forward in our knowledge.
- 623
- 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:16,759
- It is and it can tell us
- 624
- 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:19,439
- a huge amount about the way
- the animal might have lived.
- 625
- 00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:20,959
- Just from looking at that picture?
- 626
- 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:24,600
- - Just from looking at these melanosomes.
- - Great!
- 627
- 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:32,359
- Today, countershaded animals
- tend to live in open water
- 628
- 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:34,240
- where there's good visibility.
- 629
- 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,439
- Ichthyosaurs also lived in the open seas
- 630
- 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:41,559
- so being camouflaged in this way
- 631
- 00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:43,800
- would have been very valuable to them.
- 632
- 00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:53,399
- The latest scientific research
- suggests that countershading
- 633
- 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:57,119
- might also protect against
- ultraviolet light
- 634
- 00:45:57,120 --> 00:46:00,120
- and even help to regulate body temperature.
- 635
- 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,239
- As an air-breathing creature,
- 636
- 00:46:06,240 --> 00:46:11,199
- our ichthyosaur would have had to
- spend much time near the surface.
- 637
- 00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:15,200
- So countershading could have been a
- benefit for that reason as well.
- 638
- 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:25,319
- There are, of course,
- 639
- 00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:31,000
- many marine reptiles still living
- in the oceans today, like turtles.
- 640
- 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:36,799
- The biggest of them is the leatherback,
- 641
- 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,239
- whose ancestors, in fact, were around
- 642
- 00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:41,640
- at the same time as the ichthyosaurs.
- 643
- 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,079
- Today, they come ashore
- to nest in many places,
- 644
- 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:47,800
- including the Caribbean.
- 645
- 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:54,959
- This huge leatherback
- turtle is laying her eggs.
- 646
- 00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:59,679
- She's hauled her way up
- from the sea and dug a hole
- 647
- 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:03,480
- and now she's depositing about 100 of them.
- 648
- 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:07,079
- She'll then fill in the hole
- 649
- 00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:11,640
- and then work her way down back to the sea.
- 650
- 00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:15,960
- It's clearly a very laborious process.
- 651
- 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:21,719
- And that's the challenge facing all
- reptiles that live in the sea...
- 652
- 00:47:21,720 --> 00:47:25,200
- having to come onto land to lay eggs.
- 653
- 00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:32,159
- Ichthyosaurs were reptiles
- and they lived in the sea,
- 654
- 00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:35,399
- but they were so well
- adapted to a life at sea,
- 655
- 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:39,239
- that they gave birth to live young
- 656
- 00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:41,279
- and that would have saved the sea dragons
- 657
- 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:44,320
- making the dangerous journey onto land.
- 658
- 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:51,119
- There is remarkable evidence
- that ichthyosaurs gave birth
- 659
- 00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:53,920
- to live young in the Stuttgart museum.
- 660
- 00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:27,199
- And here is a truly extraordinary,
- beautiful, almost poignant fossil...
- 661
- 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:32,880
- proof positive that ichthyosaurs
- gave birth to live young.
- 662
- 00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:39,719
- Here is the baby, just at the moment
- that it's leaving the birth canal.
- 663
- 00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:44,799
- It comes out tail first and
- as soon as it was freed,
- 664
- 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:49,039
- it would have risen to the surface
- to take its first breath.
- 665
- 00:48:49,040 --> 00:48:52,399
- But something happened before that did
- 666
- 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:55,160
- and here is the proof.
- 667
- 00:48:56,720 --> 00:49:00,960
- Whatever it was, death
- must have been instant.
- 668
- 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,919
- So, ichthyosaurs gave birth to live babies,
- 669
- 00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:09,800
- just as many sharks do today.
- 670
- 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:33,239
- After several weeks of research,
- 671
- 00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:35,719
- the team at Bristol University have managed
- 672
- 00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:39,999
- to reconstruct the skull
- of the temnodontosaurus
- 673
- 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,080
- so that they can analyse
- the power of its jaws.
- 674
- 00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:47,479
- How do you assess the strength
- of this animal's bite?
- 675
- 00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:49,320
- Well, the first thing that we need to know
- 676
- 00:49:49,321 --> 00:49:52,159
- is the volume of muscle that could
- fit into the back of the skull.
- 677
- 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:53,838
- So the muscles are attaching round here
- 678
- 00:49:53,839 --> 00:49:55,400
- and also there's a group of muscles
- 679
- 00:49:55,401 --> 00:49:57,479
- that are attaching further forward here
- 680
- 00:49:57,480 --> 00:49:59,479
- and if we know how much
- muscle volume there is,
- 681
- 00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:01,840
- we can estimate how much force
- that muscle can generate.
- 682
- 00:50:01,841 --> 00:50:03,359
- And what did you discover?
- 683
- 00:50:03,360 --> 00:50:06,239
- We found out that our upper
- estimate of bite force
- 684
- 00:50:06,240 --> 00:50:09,879
- was around 30,000 Newtons and to
- put that in a modern day context,
- 685
- 00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:13,799
- that's twice as powerful as the
- largest saltwater crocodile
- 686
- 00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:16,280
- - that's been measured.
- - Twice as powerful?
- - Yeah.
- 687
- 00:50:16,281 --> 00:50:19,640
- - So that's enormous, yeah.
- - Yeah, it's a very powerful bite force.
- 688
- 00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:30,959
- So, this must have been the animal
- 689
- 00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,919
- with the most powerful bite
- of its time, mustn't it?
- 690
- 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:35,559
- That's absolutely right, yeah.
- 691
- 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:37,119
- Of its time, it would have been.
- 692
- 00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:39,159
- Not only did it have a powerful bite,
- 693
- 00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:42,039
- its jaw-closing muscles also attach
- quite close to the jaw joint.
- 694
- 00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,199
- Now, normally in animals
- where that happens,
- 695
- 00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:46,999
- they have quite a fast,
- but less forceful bite,
- 696
- 00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,519
- but the fact that this
- animal is actually so big
- 697
- 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,119
- means that it has a fast bite,
- 698
- 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:52,880
- but also by virtue of its sheer size,
- 699
- 00:50:52,881 --> 00:50:55,079
- it also has quite a
- powerful bite as well, too,
- 700
- 00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:57,000
- so it basically has the
- best of both worlds.
- 701
- 00:50:57,001 --> 00:51:00,559
- - So, this was the king of the Jurassic sea.
- - Or queen!
- 702
- 00:51:00,560 --> 00:51:01,920
- Sorry!
- 703
- 00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:06,600
- - Yeah.
- - Yeah.
- 704
- 00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:12,799
- So, it seems fairly likely that
- temnodontosaurus was strong enough
- 705
- 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:17,640
- not only to kill our sea dragon,
- but to rip its head clean off.
- 706
- 00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:23,120
- It must have been a terrifying battle.
- 707
- 00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:05,599
- Our investigations have given us
- 708
- 00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:10,040
- a pretty good idea of how
- our sea dragon died.
- 709
- 00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:14,319
- But can the reconstruction work
- 710
- 00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:19,760
- carried out at Bristol University
- tell us more about its life?
- 711
- 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:25,599
- All the blocks containing the
- fossil have now been scanned.
- 712
- 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:26,999
- With those scans,
- 713
- 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:30,359
- the team were able to
- separate the individual bones
- 714
- 00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:32,679
- and then put them back together to create
- 715
- 00:52:32,680 --> 00:52:36,960
- a 3D image of the ichthyosaur's
- body before it was attacked.
- 716
- 00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:41,239
- They've added a head
- 717
- 00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:44,720
- based on estimates of other
- ichthyosaur species.
- 718
- 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:49,519
- That's magnificent.
- 719
- 00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:50,800
- This is the whole animal
- 720
- 00:52:50,801 --> 00:52:55,079
- and we estimate that it may have
- been up to around 4.5m long.
- 721
- 00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:56,679
- Is that bigger than most in Lyme?
- 722
- 00:52:56,680 --> 00:52:58,000
- Yes, this is certainly bigger
- 723
- 00:52:58,001 --> 00:53:00,599
- than most of the ichthyosaurs
- that we see at Lyme Regis.
- 724
- 00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:02,639
- It looks huge. It looks amazing.
- 725
- 00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:04,919
- Here are the forelimbs right at the front
- 726
- 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:08,159
- and we've got hindlimbs here and at
- the back, we've got a tail bend.
- 727
- 00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:10,319
- This is supported by the backbone,
- 728
- 00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:12,559
- which extends along the
- whole length of the body.
- 729
- 00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:15,679
- - But that bend is natural, isn't it?
- That's not a break. - Yes.
- 730
- 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:18,279
- That gives strength to the
- lower element of the tail
- 731
- 00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:19,440
- for driving it forward.
- 732
- 00:53:19,441 --> 00:53:21,039
- Much like a shark,
- 733
- 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:24,439
- the tail bend is the main
- propulsive organ of the animal.
- 734
- 00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:27,039
- So, could this be a new species?
- 735
- 00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:29,639
- Yes, these pieces of evidence together
- 736
- 00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:33,239
- suggest that it is going to be a new
- species and it's jolly exciting.
- 737
- 00:53:33,240 --> 00:53:36,200
- - They don't come along every day.
- - Historic!
- - Yes.
- 738
- 00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:40,559
- This is wonderful news.
- 739
- 00:53:40,560 --> 00:53:43,399
- A sighting by Chris on
- the beach in Lyme Regis
- 740
- 00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:47,039
- has led to the discovery of a
- new species of ichthyosaur,
- 741
- 00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:50,560
- adding to our knowledge of
- these fascinating creatures.
- 742
- 00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:56,479
- It's extraordinary how much you can
- discover from one single fossil.
- 743
- 00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:59,639
- Digital reconstruction has allowed us
- 744
- 00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:04,559
- to rebuild this animal to reveal
- how it looked and how it moved.
- 745
- 00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:07,239
- We've discovered, for the first time,
- 746
- 00:54:07,240 --> 00:54:10,559
- that this creature was countershaded.
- 747
- 00:54:10,560 --> 00:54:13,160
- But that didn't stop it
- from being attacked.
- 748
- 00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,599
- By analysing its bones,
- 749
- 00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:19,879
- we've been able to work out
- that its most likely attacker
- 750
- 00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:21,599
- was a temnodontosaurus,
- 751
- 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:25,160
- the most ferocious predator
- of the seas at that time.
- 752
- 00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:33,239
- It's been a fascinating journey
- of discovery, but, for me,
- 753
- 00:54:33,240 --> 00:54:37,079
- the real wonder is the bones themselves.
- 754
- 00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:41,280
- I can't wait to see what they look
- like when they're finally cleaned.
- 755
- 00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:58,599
- After many months of painstaking
- and patient preparation,
- 756
- 00:54:58,600 --> 00:55:02,159
- Chris and his team have
- finally completed their work
- 757
- 00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:04,800
- on the fossil of our ancient sea dragon.
- 758
- 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:18,000
- Here it is finished.
- 759
- 00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:22,359
- Wow!
- 760
- 00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:25,159
- It's really beautiful, isn't it?
- 761
- 00:55:25,160 --> 00:55:28,719
- - I mean, it is beautiful, that's for sure.
- - Thank you.
- 762
- 00:55:28,720 --> 00:55:31,439
- - It's a great specimen, isn't it?
- - Lovely.
- 763
- 00:55:31,440 --> 00:55:36,039
- And how many new species have been
- discovered in the last 100 years?
- 764
- 00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:38,359
- Very few, very, very few
- 765
- 00:55:38,360 --> 00:55:42,760
- and it's thrilling to find something
- that's just never been seen before.
- 766
- 00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,599
- Well, it was a long time spent
- 767
- 00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:51,039
- just revealing the body of this creature,
- 768
- 00:55:51,040 --> 00:55:54,519
- but it's also revealed
- this extraordinary story
- 769
- 00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:56,759
- of life and death,
- 770
- 00:55:56,760 --> 00:56:00,759
- predator-prey fighting it out in the seas
- 771
- 00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:04,479
- 200 million years ago just down there.
- 772
- 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:07,319
- Yeah, it's a fantastic story.
- 773
- 00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:10,800
- Really, really thrilling and romantic.
- 774
- 00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:16,919
- For Chris, this has been a labour of love
- 775
- 00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:21,999
- and it's filled in another gap
- in the palaeontological jigsaw...
- 776
- 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,399
- a story that all started
- 777
- 00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:28,919
- with an odd-looking boulder
- on a Dorset beach.
- 778
- 00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:30,439
- It's extraordinary to think
- 779
- 00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:36,439
- that some 200 million
- years ago exactly here,
- 780
- 00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:42,199
- the greatest predator of its time
- was swimming around in the sea
- 781
- 00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:46,479
- and that's what I really love
- about fossils and fossil hunting.
- 782
- 00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:50,559
- It gives you an
- extraordinarily vivid insight
- 783
- 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:55,439
- into what the world was like
- millions of years before
- 784
- 00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:58,440
- human beings even appeared on this planet.
- 785
- 00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:10,159
- Ichthyosaurs died out around
- 90 million years ago.
- 786
- 00:57:10,160 --> 00:57:12,399
- No-one knows why,
- 787
- 00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:17,479
- but standing here and having
- excavated that spectacular fossil,
- 788
- 00:57:17,480 --> 00:57:19,999
- it's not difficult to imagine a time
- 789
- 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:24,400
- when dragons really did rule the seas.
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