According to the article published in the journal Plos ONE, scientists examined fossilized jaw bones found on beaches in the Somerset region in 2016 and 2020.
The jaw bones belong to the longest marine reptile known so far, the new ichthyosaur species.
From the fossils unearthed, scientists named this new species “Ichthyotitan severnensis”.
Scientists pointed out that the species lived at the same time as dinosaurs about 202 million years ago.
“Based on the size of the jaw bones, one meter long and the other two meters long, we calculated that the animal could have been 25 meters long,” said Dr. Dean Lomax, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol in the UK.
Lomax said they need more evidence to determine the exact size of the new species.
The largest animal living on Earth is thought to be the 33-meter blue whale. Scientists believe that this species may be close in size to blue whales.
The fossilized jaw bones will be exhibited at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery in England.
