New ocean species discovered through research on bones found 100 years ago

The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow has announced that prehistoric bones discovered by an amateur palaeontologist 100 years ago belong to a newly-discovered species of ocean predator.

The bones, which include teeth and a jawbone were found in a clay pit in Peterborough in the early 1900s and were given into the keeping of the Hunterian, which is Scotland's oldest public museum. Recently, the partial skeleton was examined by experts at the University of Edinburgh who discovered that the animal was a sea predator similar to a crocodile, which would have had a long jaw and sharp teeth and lived around 165 million years ago.

The animal has been named Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos which means 'blood-biting swimmer'. Dr Neil Clark, who is palaeontology curator at the Hunterian said: 'Little research has been done on this specimen since it was first listed in 1919. It is comforting to know that new species can still be found in museums as new research is carried out on old collections.

'It is not just the new species that are important, but an increase in our understanding of how life evolved and the variety of life forms that existed 163 million years ago in the warm Jurassic seas around what is now Britain.'

Visit the Hunterian Glasgow website.

Read more history and heritage news from around Scotland.

Keep up to date with the latest history news, discoveries and research in every issue of History Scotland and Scottish Memories.

Sign up now for our FREE e-newsletter for more news stories, sneak previews, exclusive content and special offers.