Help us conserve, remount and display the Museum's Ichthyosaur fossil

Milton Keynes was once covered by warm ocean and was home to marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs. Porpoise-like in their appearance, ichthyosaurs lived during the early Jurassic period around 160 million years ago, preyed on octopus, cuttlefish and squid in the water, travelled at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour and are believed to have been highly skilled hunters. The scientific name for the Ichthyosaur is Ophthalmosaurus, which translates as 'Eye Lizard’— simply because it has the biggest eyes of any predator and could see in the dark. Eventually, these marine reptiles were driven to extinction due to climate change– they simply didn't evolve quickly enough.

In 1982, during the excavation of Caldecotte Lake, one workman struck fossil gold when he just happened to uncover an Ichthyosaur fossil in the New City of Milton Keynes! Experts from Leicester University helped with the preservation and conservation of the magnificent creature, of which 75% was recovered. They spent days mapping out the skeleton, recording the position of every bone lifting the full skeleton, and cleaning and conserving each bone.