Dean R. Lomax

• Researcher at The University of Manchester

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300289.].

Many museum and university collections contain fossil marine reptile specimens that have no provenance data associated with them, particularly those collected in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This may be because the information was never known to the museum or because the data have since been lost. Moreover, data that are associated with a spe...

Giant Late Triassic ichthyosaurs have been shrouded in mystery for more than two centuries. Due at large to their fragmentary fossil record, giant ichthyosaur palaeoecology, morphology and extinction are still a matter of important debate, making every new data crucial for the understanding of these past giants. We present the results of the latest...

Giant Late Triassic ichthyosaurs have been shrouded in mystery for more than two centuries. Due at large to their fragmentary fossil record, giant ichthyosaur palaeoecology, morphology and extinction are still a matter of important debate, making every new data crucial for the understanding of these past giants. We present the results of the latest...

Charles Moore (1815-1881) amassed a large, scientifically significant collection of fossils from southwestern England and displayed them in a public museum at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. The collection included more than two dozen slab mounts of nearly complete or partial skeletons of Lower Lias (Lower Jurassic) ichthyosaurs...

Giant ichthyosaurs with body length estimates exceeding 20 m were present in the latest Triassic of the UK. Here we report on the discovery of a second surangular from the lower jaw of a giant ichthyosaur from Somerset, UK. The new find is comparable in size and morphology to a specimen from Lilstock, Somerset, described in 2018, but it is more com...

An almost complete ichthyosaur skeleton 10 m long was discovered in January 2021 at the Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the county of Rutland, UK. This was excavated by a small team of palaeontologists in the summer of the same year. Nicknamed 'The Rutland Sea Dragon', this almost fully articulated skeleton is an example of the large-bodied Early J...

A new specimen of a rare large theropod dinosaur print of Middle Jurassic age is described from the Long Nab Member of the Scalby Formation, Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire. This is only the sixth specimen of this type recorded from the Cleveland Basin since they were first discovered in 1934. The present specimen is included in the same, but slightly m...

Composite fossils can distort our evaluation of the morphology and variation of a species if unrecognised or misidentified. Many Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs collected during the 19th century have been identified as composites, but the problem is not restricted to historic specimens. More recently collected material, including some specimens for sal...

The first complete ichthyosaur skeleton was introduced to the scientific community in 1819 by Sir Everard Home, and given the name Proteosaurus, although the name was subsequently replaced by ‘Ichthyosaurus’. The skeleton is from Lyme Regis and was probably collected by Mary Anning as it was in the collection of Colonel Birch. The specimen ultimate...

Since 2004, paleontological expeditions have been conducted to the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park, Chilean Patagonia, resulting in the discovery of almost a hundred ichthyosaur skeletons to date. The ichthyosaurs are exposed in the rocks as a consequence of the ongoing melting of the glacier caused by climate change. Most of the...

Tenontosaurus tilletti was an abundant ornithischian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of North America, commonly regarded as a ‘basal’ iguanodontian. Here, we describe a remarkably well-preserved specimen, comprising a near-complete skeleton and skull, from the Cloverly Formation, Montana, USA, currently housed at the University of Manchester Mus...

CORRECTION TO TABLE 1: NHMUK R 11801 is now NHMUK R 38005 _________________________________________________________________________________. The Early Jurassic ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurus displays a variety of bony features surrounding the external naris: a small triangular process on the lacrimal protruding into the external naris; a raised edge o...

The work of Richard Hall, a fossil preparator at the British Museum (Natural History) in the late 19th century, has been largely unrecorded. It included the excavation, preparation and restoration of two important specimens: the dinosaur Polacanthus foxii and the ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus platyodon. The painstaking reconstruction of the dorsal s...

While the holotype of Temnodontosaurus crassimanus still remains on display at the Yorkshire Museum, it has remained largely understudied and the validity of the species has long been questioned. Through re-examination, this study highlights several morphological features of the postcranial skeleton and determines that T. crassimanus is a valid spe...

A previously unrecognized specimen of Protoichthyosaurus prostaxalis , LEICT G142.1991, from the Lower Jurassic of Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, UK, includes an almost complete three-dimensional skull that provides new information on the configuration of the skull roof. The position of the pineal foramen (between the frontals and the parietals)...

The Rebbachisauridae is a widespread family of Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Coniacian) basal diplodocid sauropods known from South America, Africa and Europe but their remains are rare. In the UK, only three specimens have formally been described, recorded from the Early Cretaceous (late Barremian – early Aptian) Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. H...

An almost complete ichthyosaur from the historically significant collection of fossils amassed by Somerset geologist, Charles Moore, is described. Available information suggests that it was collected from the Lower Lias of Somerset, UK. However, inspection of the surrounding matrix, which seems to be a nodule, indicates that the specimen may instea...

The last two decades have seen a remarkable increase in the known diversity of basal avialans and their paravian relatives. The lack of resolution in the relationships of these groups combined with attributing the behavior of specialized taxa to the base of Paraves has clouded interpretations of the origin of avialan flight. Here, we describe Hespe...

Ichthyosaur fossils are abundant in Lower Jurassic sediments with nine genera found in the UK. In this paper, we describe the partial skeleton of a large ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (lower Sinemurian) of Warwickshire, England, which was conserved and rearticulated to form the centrepiece of a new permanent gallery at the Thinktank, Birmingh...

Ichthyosaurs were a highly successful group of marine reptiles that first appeared in the Early Triassic, around 248 million years ago, and became extinct about 90 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous. They are often referred to as ‘swimming dinosaurs’, but they are not dinosaurs. They were fully aquatic marine tetrapods that lived in the seas...

An incomplete forefin in the collections of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, is herein assigned to the rare leptonectid species, Leptonectes solei, known only from the west Dorset coast. It is only the third specimen of the species and is smaller than both the holotype and referred specimen. The new specimen is from the Lower Jurassic (lower...

An incomplete forefin in the collections of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, is herein assigned to the rare leptonectid species, Leptonectes solei, known only from the west Dorset coast. It is only the third specimen of the species and is smaller than both the holotype and referred specimen. The new specimen is from the Lower Jurassic (lower...

Three isolated, partial skulls from historic collections, previously identified as Ichthyosaurus communis are herein assigned to Protoichthyosaurus prostaxalis. A fourth, nearly complete skull is referred to Protoichthyosaurus applebyi, only the second known specimen of the species. It provides additional information on the posterior portion of the...

The largest reported ichthyosaurs lived during the Late Triassic (~235–200 million years ago), and isolated, fragmentary bones could be easily mistaken for those of dinosaurs because of their size. We report the discovery of an isolated bone from the lower jaw of a giant ichthyosaur from the latest Triassic of Lilstock, Somerset, UK. It documents t...

The remains of between six and eight ichthyosaur embryos, still situated within a fragment of the rib-cage of the parent animal, are described. Each is represented by a string of vertebral centra, some with associated ribs. Other skeletal elements, including possible skull material, are represented only by isolated bones, none identifiable with cer...

CORRECTION: Specimen NHMUK R11801, on TABLE 1, TABLE 3 and FIGURE 8, and discussed on p. 14, has been renumbered as NHMUK 38005. ____________________________________________________________________________________ The abundance of specimens of Ichthyosaurus provides an opportunity to assess morphological variation without the limits of a small sam...

The holotype of Wahlisaurus massarae is known only from a partial skull and postcranial skeleton from the Lower Jurassic, collected near Normanton on Soar, Nottinghamshire, UK. It is diagnosed relative to other ichthyosaurs on the basis of autapomorphies of the coracoid and a unique combination of characters. Here, we report a second specimen of W....

Numerous specimens of Ichthyosaurus are known, but only very few small examples (total body length of < 1 m) have been assigned beyond Ichthyosaurus sp. Here, we report on a very small specimen (preflexural length of 560 mm) that can be unequivocally assigned to Ichthyosaurus communis due to possessing a unique combination of diagnostic skull and p...

The validity of the parvipelvian ichthyosaur genus Protoichthyosaurus was evaluated by examining the type material and recently recognized specimens. Protoichthyosaurus has a wide forefin with at least five primary digits, an anterior digital bifurcation in the forefin, a humerus that is nearly equal in width distally and proximally, and a coracoid...

Numerous specimens of Ichthyosaurus are known, but only very few small examples (total length of <1 m) have been assigned beyond Ichthyosaurus sp. Here, we report on a very small specimen (preflexural length of 560 mm) that can be unequivocally assigned to Ichthyosaurus communis due to possessing a unique combination of diagnostic skull and postcra...

A formerly undescribed Ichthyosaurus specimen from the collection of the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum (Lower Saxony State Museum) in Hannover, Germany, provides valuable new information. The skeleton was collected from the Lower Jurassic strata (lower Hettangian, Blue Lias Formation) of Doniford Bay, Somerset, UK. However, the specimen is a compo...

A fragmentary ichthyosaur specimen collected in situ at Castle Top Quarry in Nettleton, Lincolnshire, UK from exposures of the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) Spilsby Sandstone Formation (Subcraspedites ?preplicomphalus Zone) is reported. In general, Early Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from the Berriasian to Barremian are poorly understood. Despite the fra...

We describe a new species of Lower Jurassic (Hettangian/Sinemurian–Pliensbachian) ichthyosaur, Ichthyosaurus anningae sp. nov., from west Dorset. The holotype of I. anningae (DONMG:1983.98), at least a sub-adult, is from the Pliensbachian Stone Barrow Marls Member (Charmouth Mudstone Formation). It is the most complete ichthyosaur known from this t...

A new fossil-bearing, Upper Carboniferous (lower Westphalian) locality in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK, is reported and an account of the fossils is presented. The diverse flora and fauna consists of plants, bivalves, arthropods (primarily xiphosurans), tentaculitids (microconchids), fish scales, shark egg capsules and coprolites. Fossils are pre...

An ichthyosaur in the collections of the Sedgwick Museum (CAMSMX.50187) was collected in the 19th century by the renowned fossil collector Mary Anning, but has never been adequately described in the literature. As an Anning specimen, it is certainly from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, west Dorset. The near complete presacral skeleton is lying on...

Ammonite aptychi from the Lower Jurassic of Port Mulgrave near Whitby, U.K., are reported for the first time in association with ammonites of the Family Hildoceratidae, Subfamily Harpoceratinae. The aptychi are preserved in shale, varying in their completeness and exhibiting a range of sizes, but are identified as Cornaptychus sp. and cf. Lamellapt...

Thousands of ichthyosaurs have been discovered from the rich Lower Jurassic deposits of the UK, with the majority collected from along the Lyme Regis-Charmouth area of the Dorset coast. Here, I describe a new leptonectid ichthyosaur, Wahlisaurus massarae gen. et sp. nov., based on a partial skull and an incomplete skeleton collected from the Lower...

A 9.7 metre long trackway was discovered in a plattenkalk quarry near the village of Wintershof, Bavaria; Germany in 2002. The huge ichnofossil derives from the Lower Tithonian, Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone. The trackway is complete from beginning to end and consists of footprints, telson drag impressions and is identified as the...

The occurrence of ichthyosaurs from Nottinghamshire is poorly documented. Here, we report on at least 63 specimens from museum and university collections. The specimens range from isolated elements to nearly complete skeletons. Preservation varies, but some are three-dimensional. The identification of both Ichthyosaurus and Temnodontosaurus in the...

An undescribed specimen of Ichthyosaurus from the collection of the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hannover, Germany, provides valuable new information. It was collected from the Lower Jurassic strata (Hettangian, Blue Lias Formation) of Donniford Bay, Somerset, UK and represents the largest known definite example of the genus. The skull, specif...

Trackways and tracemakers preserved together in the fossil record are rare. However, the co-occurrence of a drag mark, together with the dead animal that produced it, is exceptional. Here, we describe an 8.5 m long ammonite drag mark complete with the preserved ammonite shell (Subplanites rueppellianus) at its end. Previously recorded examples pres...

Ichthyosaurus communis De la Beche & Conybeare, 1821 De la Beche, H. T. & Conybeare, W. D. 1821. Notice of the discovery of a new fossil animal, forming a link between the Ichthyosaurus and crocodile, together with general remarks on the osteology of the Ichthyosaurus. Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 5, 559–594.[CrossRef] [Google...

This note corrects and amends a dataset of humerus and preflexural vertebral column lengths from Massare et al. (2015, Appendix 4). Four specimens, AGC 7, BGS 37 (corrected number), NHMUK R11801, and NHMUK 85791, were removed from the dataset because only precaudal lengths could be measured. Another specimen, AGC 12 was removed because it is a spec...

All specimens of Ichthyosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of Somerset were previously identified as I. communis, an abundant and extremely variable species. Here, two new species of Ichthyosaurus are recognized from multiple specimens. The species are assigned to Ichthyosaurus on the basis of the humerus, pectoral girdle and forefin morphologies. I. l...

Thousands of ichthyosaurs have been discovered from the rich Lower Jurassic deposits of the UK, with the majority collected from along the Lyme Regis-Charmouth area of the Dorset coast. Here, I describe a new leptonectid ichthyosaur, Wahlisaurus massarae gen. et sp. nov., based on a partial skull and an incomplete skeleton collected from the Lower...

Many collections of Lower Jurassic ichthyosaurs from the U. K. include historic specimens collected during the 19th century, and often with poorly known origins. Here we describe nearly complete skeletons of the Lower Jurassic genus Ichthyosaurus that are probably composites or that, at least, require further examination to assess their authenticit...

Ichthyosaurus conybeari is a rare species, previously known only from an incomplete holotype and one referred specimen, both from the Lyme Regis area of the west Dorset coast, U. K. A newly recognized, nearly complete specimen (NMW 93.5G.2) is the first occurrence of the species in Somerset, U.K. A revised diagnosis recognizes new morphological cha...

An ichthyosaur specimen (DONMG:1983.98) in the palaeontology collection of Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, England, comprises a nearly complete skeleton. Although the museum deliberately purchased the fossil as genuine in 1983 it was later mistaken for a plaster cast and used as such before being re-identified as real. Furthermore, it was recentl...

The occurrence of ichthyosaurs from Nottinghamshire is poorly documented. Here, we report on at least 67 specimens from museum and university collections. The specimens range from isolated elements to nearly complete skeletons. Preservation varies, but some are three-dimensional. The identification of both Ichthyosaurus and Temnodontosaurus in the...

A large partial forefin (YORYM 2005.2411) from the Lower Jurassic of Yorkshire is assigned to Ichthyosaurus on the basis of the humerus shape, two digits originating from the intermedium, and an anterior digital bifurcation. The humerus is 11.7 cm long and the forefin is 38.5 cm long, but incomplete, probably missing more than 1/3 of its length. Re...

We describe a new species of Lower Jurassic (Hettangian/Sinemurian–Pliensbachian) ichthyosaur, Ichthyosaurus anningae, sp. nov., from west Dorset, England, U.K. The holotype of I. anningae (DONMG:1983.98), at least a subadult, is from the lower Pliensbachian Stonebarrow Marl Member (Charmouth Mudstone Formation). It is the most complete ichthyosaur...

Plesiosaur remains are rare in Poland. The first confidently documented occurrence of the group from the Jurassic of Poland is reported. The specimens comprise three isolated teeth of a pliosaurid (Pliosauridae, Thalassophonea). These were found in Upper Jurassic (lower Oxfordian) sediments and were collected from Zalas Quarry, near Kraków, in sout...

Henry Culpin was an autodidact geologist and palaeontologist; he was among the first of very few local people to understand and describe the geological outcrops, and fossils within them, around Doncaster, South Yorkshire. During his excursions, Culpin collected many fossil specimens and gifted several to Beechfield House museum, now Doncaster Museu...

I do not regularly check this site and my research is therefore not updated. For a look at all of my peer reviewed, popular, and book publications please visit here: http://www.deanrlomax.co.uk/Publications.html. If there is anything you are interested in please do not hesitate to contact me.

Composite specimens have been a problem in palaeontology since its beginning. Numerous composite specimens exist in museum collections assembled in the 19th century in the UK. Features of the ichthyosaurian vertebral column are often overlooked, but centrum morphology can be used to evaluate the authenticity of a specimen. In particular, two landma...

A fragmentary ichthyosaur specimen collected in situ at Castle Top Quarry in Nettleton, Lincolnshire, UK from exposures of the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) Spilsby Sandstone Formation (Subcraspedites ?preplicomphalus Zone) is reported. In general, Early Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from the Berriasian to Barremian are poorly understood. Despite the fra...

A new fossil-bearing, Upper Carboniferous (lower Westphalian) locality in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK, is reported and an account of the fossils is presented. The diverse flora and fauna consists of plants, bivalves, arthropods (primarily xiphosurans), tentaculitids (microconchids), fish scales, shark egg capsules and coprolites. Fossils are pre...

With the exception of dedicated dinosaur fans, few members of the British public realise that the rocks beneath their feet have yielded one of the best dinosaur fossil records from anywhere in the world. News of the latest spectacular discoveries from China, the USA, Canada and Argentina have to some extent overshadowed the material that has been p...

This article summarises the history of palaeontology collections at Doncaster Museum, their uses, and the collectors and curators associated with them. It begins by outlining the general national context, then details Doncaster Museum's specific story, including the quantity and type of materials collected, collection care (or lack of it), exhibiti...

A new specimen of the Moroccan elasmosaurid plesiosaur Zarafasaura oceanis from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) phosphate deposits of Morocco is described. A partial skeleton with an associated skull is mounted ondisplay at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, USA. The short preorbital region of the skull and contact of the squamosal with the parietal...

An ichthyosaur in the collections of the SedgwickMuseum, Cambridge (CAMSMX.50187) was collected in the nineteenth century by the renowned fossil collector Mary Anning, but has never been adequately described in the literature. As an Anning specimen, it is certainly from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, west Dorset. The near complete presacral skel...

Ammonite aptychi from the Lower Jurassic of Port Mulgrave near Whitby, U.K., are reported for the first time in association with ammonites of the Family Hildoceratidae, Subfamily Harpoceratinae. The aptychi are preserved in shale, varying in their completeness and exhibiting a range of sizes, but are identified as Cornaptychus sp. and cf. Lamellapt...

A large but incomplete skeleton of an ichthyosaur (CAMSM J 13579) from Street, Somerset, in the Sedgwick Museum collection is associated with two embryos. The morphology of the pelvis and humerus indicate that the adult is Leptonectes. The elongated external naris, exclusion of the maxilla from the border of the external naris, notched radius of th...

A 9.7 m long trackway was discovered in a plattenkalk quarry near the village of Wintershof, Bavaria, Germany, in 2002. The huge ichnofossil derives from the Lower Tithonian, Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone. The trackway is complete from beginning to end and consists of footprints, telson drag impressions, prosoma imprints and is id...

A rediscovered collection of scientifically significant eurypterid fossil specimens, assigned to Slimonia acuminata and Erettopterus bilobus, is held in the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery. The specimens are from the historically important late Silurian Lesmahagow inlier of Lanarkshire, Scotland and are described herein. The material ranges from p...

The small coastal town of Whitby is located in North Yorkshire, England. It has been associated with fossils for hundreds of years. From the common ammonites to the spectacular marine reptiles, a variety of fossils is waiting to be discovered. This book will help you to identify, understand and learn about the fossils encountered while fossil hunti...