Attenborough and the Sea Dragon Page #5

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Ichthyosaurs, unlike dolphins,

also had back paddles.

They, too, would have helped

stabilise them as they swam.

And what's more, the

paddles of our ichthyosaur

are particularly large and long,

rather like those of the

oceanic whitetip shark.

That shape helps the whitetip

to cruise for long distances

with very little expenditure of

energy in their search for food.

So, it could be that our ichthyosaur

was also a long-distance traveller

and only an infrequent visitor

to the Lyme Regis seas,

which could be why no-one has ever

found one of these here before.

Back at the dig site, the

rain has stopped at last.

But the storm is a reminder

that winter is on its way.

The team must try to extract

the rest of the dragon's body

before worse weather arrives.

That's how hard the rock is.

It's actually smashed

the end off the chisel.

So, you can see what we're dealing with.

At last, they find signs of

the rest of the skeleton.

- Lots and lots of bone in there.

- Yeah.

Ribs and all sorts of stuff.

And there's another particularly

exciting discovery.

- Is there skin?

- Yeah, look.

- Oh, really?

They've found signs of fossilized skin.

Rare, isn't it?

Yeah, very rare.

The blocks that contain bones and skin

can't be thrown down like the other rocks.

They must be carefully strapped

up and gently lowered.

That's the first block down.

A few more to go, but if they go

like that, I'll be very pleased.

Two weeks after they started work, I

go down again to check on progress.

- How's it going?

- Well, quite well so far.

- A lot shifted.

- Yeah, about 20 tonnes of it, I think.

- Really?

- Yes.

How's it doing? Is it caught?

- No, it's OK.

- It's OK? Yeah.

What do you reckon's in it?

This block's got vertebrae,

the other part of the ribcage

and it's definitely got the

back paddles in there.

You can see a cross section through them.

VOICEOVER:
While the team continue

lowering the huge blocks,

VOICEOVER:
Chris shows me what

they've already collected.

So, lots over here.

- Ah, well, I can see something there.

- Ah!

- That's more obvious, yeah.

- Yeah.

Here, you can see,

glinting in the sunlight,

sections through the backbone,

the vertebral column.

Wow!

And these are the ribs that are

still attached to the vertebrae

and these are the neurals

that come off the backbone.

The spines off the top of the back.

- Yeah, but they've actually got skin preserved on them.

- No, really? - Yeah.

- Can you see that here?

- Well, that's the very black.

You can see it on the impression as well.

VOICEOVER:
This is great news,

but something puzzles me.

Would the head have been

on this side or that side?

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