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Marine reptile collection
Skull of the ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus platyodon, the first ever discovered. Mary Anning's brother Joseph found the skull in 1810 and Mary found parts of the neck a year later.
The collection contains many marine reptile specimens from the Lower Lias of the Dorset coast, including some discovered by Mary Anning.
Collection strengths
The collection’s highlights are on display in the Museum’s Fossil Marine Reptile gallery, including:
- the first ichthyosaur skull, now called Temnodontosaurus platyodon, discovered in 1810
- the first articulated plesiosaur, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, discovered in 1823
Large collections of Callovian (Middle Jurassic) marine reptiles from Cambridgeshire brick pits were purchased from Alfred Leeds in 1890 and 1914. These include many type and figured skeletons of plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and marine crocodiles, including:
- the plesiosaur Cryptocleidus eurymerus
- the ichthyosaur Ophthalmosaurus icenicus
Major collections
The collection also contains other important marine reptile fossils from the Lower Lias of Dorset, in the UK, including those of Thomas Hawkins and the Earl of Enniskillen, who both purchased specimens from Mary Anning.
We have a small number of isolated bones and teeth of both ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs from a range of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous sites in Britain.
Our collection also includes a unique plesiosaur, Leptoclidus, from the Wealden Group of Sussex.
More recent acquisitions include two Pliensbachian ichthyosaurs from the Dorset coast, one of which is the type specimen of Leptonectes moorei.
Country of origin
Britain
Plesiosaurus macrocephalus, a large-skulled plesiosaur found by Mary Anning
A fossil specimen of an Ichthyosaurus communis from the Lower Lias, Lyme Regis, Dorset.
A fossil specimen of the extinct fish-like marine reptile Ichthyosaurus acutirostris from Germany. It lived during the Lower Jurassic period 205-180 million years ago.
Curators
Heather Bonney, Principal Curator in Charge
Marc Jones, Curator
Contact the curator
If you have any questions or would like to use specimens for research, please get in touch.
Important historical collections
- Mary Anning
- Alfred Leeds
- Thomas Hawkins
- Earl of Enniskillen
Learn more about the collections
Accessing the collections
Find out how to arrange a visit to the collections and access specimens for research.
Collections management
Find out how we fulfil our duty to provide a safe and secure environment for the collections in our care.
Collections on the move
Discover how we are preparing for the UK’s largest collections move and which collections will have limited access.