Heather Salt, an amateur fossil hunter from Solihull near Birmingham, made the discovery while participating in a guided walk along the Lyme Regis shore in Dorset. According to BBC News - England, Salt described traveling to Lyme Regis hoping to find something for her own collection, initially thinking the fossil was a piece of wood with nails driven through it. She reported showing it to guide Casey Rich, who became excited and called others over to examine it.
Casey Rich, a fossil walk guide with Lyme Regis Museum, immediately recognized the specimen as something special when Salt handed it to him. According to BBC News - England, Rich described that his first thoughts were that it might be another marine reptile like an ichthyosaur or plesiosaur, noting that even such finds would be rare. A colleague suggested it was either plesiosaur or crocodile, and according to BBC News - England, Rich described how hearing 'croc' made him realize the potential rarity and significance of the discovery.
The fossil represents an exceptionally rare find, with sources indicating it is thought to be one of only 11 specimens ever recovered from this ancient marine crocodile. According to Dr. Paul Davis, the fossil will help researchers understand how the Jurassic crocodile hunted in the world's early oceans, though the specific research studies it will be used for have not been detailed.
This discovery relates to the 'Charmouth Crocodile,' which was first discovered in 2017 in nearby Charmouth. According to sources, the animal spent most of its life in the sea, only coming ashore to lay eggs and raise young, was slender, about 2 meters long, and had a thin long snout adapted for eating fish. While commonly called a marine crocodile, it is more accurately classified as a thalattosuchian rather than a true crocodilian, though its exact scientific name and classification remain uncertain.
The fossil went on display to the public last week as part of the museum's exhibit on the 'Charmouth Crocodile.' The exact species of marine crocodile the fossil belongs to has not been confirmed, nor has the process by which it was verified as coming from a marine crocodile been disclosed. What other fossils have been found from this animal besides the 11 mentioned also remains unknown.