Art News

Giant Sea Monster Returns to Yorkshire Museum

YORK.- One of the biggest sea monsters ever found in Britain is going back on display as a complete fossil for the first time in decades. The giant ichthyosaur would have been about eight metres long and swam in the tropical waters which covered North Yorkshire 180 million years ago. For the last 12 months the fossilised remains of the massive sea creature have been painstakingly conserved by an expert. And now, for the first time in 20 years, the whole of the fossil has been put back on display. The project has been made possible thanks to a £20,000 grant from the PRISM Fund which was match funded by York Museums Trust. Isla Gladstone, curator of Natural Science, said: “These are the remains of a huge creature which we think looked a bit like an enormous dolphin. It would probably have filled a similar role to the dolphin too, being an active hunter, seeking out squid-like creatures, fish and potentially other reptiles. “It is rare to find such a complete example