Adog walker has claimed he discovered a 65 million-year-old skeleton on a Somerset beach after his sharp-nosed dogs sniffed it out.
Jon Gopsill, 85, was on the coast near Stolford, Somerset, with his two pets when he stumbled across the five-and-a- half foot long fossil, which had been exposed by recent storms.
It is thought that the prehistoric fossil is from the Jurassic period and was a porpoise-like sea mammal known as the ichthyosaur.
Amateur archaeologist Mr Gopsill has reported his findings Somerset Heritage and the Natural History Museum.
Jon said: “I often go to the beach walking with my dogs and when the tide goes out we go out to the rocks because they like playing there. “
“I have always been a bit of an amateur fossil hunter and I have found a good supply of ammonites, so I always keep my eyes open.
“We were at the beach when I saw this thing and thought ‘what’s that?’ so I went a bit closer and thought ‘wow’.
“I thought it was obviously a fossilized sea creature, possibly an ichthyosaur. It doesn’t have a head, I have look around but I can’t find it. It has been there for at least million years.
“I realized straight that it was amazing, museum quality stuff, as soon as I saw it I knew I found something special. I was just blown away to see it there. It really is incredible that is has survived for such a long time and is now just there for everyone to see. ”
With its own Jurassic and Triassic rocks, West Somerset’s northern bays are known for their fossil finds.
Last year, part of the lower jaw of a – foot ichthyosaur was found in the Somerset village of Lilstock, thought to be to 450 million years old.
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