Part Shark. Part Dolphin. All Mystery.

Sharlphin or dolphark? Ancient creature looked like part shark and dolphin

This curious looking extinct creature is in fact neither, it's part of the ichthyosaur family and would have lived around 150 million years ago.

It has such unique features that it has now been classified as its own species.

Image: Artist’s impression of Thalassodraco etchesi. Megan Jacobs/Baylor University

The reptile, dubbed Thalassodraco etchesi, had enormous eyes and a large rib cage, all of which suggests it had a large lung capacity and was able to see in the dark of the ocean depths.

The fascinating fossil was discovered near Kimmeridge Bay, on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset in the UK.

It's part of an area that's a World Heritage Site, better known as the Jurassic Coast.

Words by Dean Newman

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