A Draining Experience

It's amazing what can be discovered, in areas far from the current coast. In February 2021, the draining of a lagoon island in the Rutland Water Reservoir, to facilitate nesting birds, revealed an almost complete fossil skeleton of an Ichthyosaur (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/10/huge-sea-dragon-named-one-of-uks-greatest-fossil-finds).The Rutland Reservoir supplies water to much of the UK Midlands. Ichthyosaurs were predatory, dolphin-like reptiles, living in the ancient seas. Ichthyosaurs somewhat predated the more newsworthy dinosaurs. These animals were air-breathing and gave birth to live young, as they couldn't go on to dry land. The Rutland Water Reservoir specimen turned out to be 180m years old and was a record (for the UK) being 10 metres in length. What was equally remarkable, was that the fossil's uncovering featured in a BBC Archaeology programme. Presumably, the filming opportunity was too good for the makers of the programme to leave to Palaeontologists!