Warwickshire dolphins

A life-sized creature, which once swam in a shallow sea where Warwickshire now exists, has gone on exhibition at Warwickshire Museum

Two hundred million years ago, Warwickshire was covered by the shallow sea that was the home to an amazing diversity of Jurassic sea creatures.

Among the top predators there were reptiles known as ichthyosaurs (pronounced ‘ik-thee-o-sors’), which looked something like modern dolphins.

Over the last two hundred years many fossilised ichthyosaur skeletons, bones and teeth, have been found in local quarries at Harbury, Stockton and Long Itchington.

Some of these remains are cared for by the Warwickshire Museum; others were collected by larger institutions such as the Natural History Museum in London.

To celebrate the county’s Jurassic past, the Warwickshire Museum has commissioned a two and a half metre-long, life-sized ichthyosaur model, which is now on show in the Warwick-based museum as a new feature of its refurbished geology gallery. The huge model is suspended by wires from the ceiling so that visitors are able to appreciate the enormity of its scale.

Dr Jon Radley, Warwickshire Museum’s Keeper of Geology, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that one of our ichthyosaurs has ‘come home’. This model is one of the most life-like in existence, and will provide our visitors with a real taste of local Jurassic sea-life.”

Museum opening times are:
Tuesday to Saturday and Bank Holidays 10am to 5pm
Sundays during April to September 11.30am to 5pm
Admission is free.