A NEAR-complete skeleton of a beast that once ruled the ocean that was discovered on Dorset’s Jurassic coast has been revealed to be a new species of a prehistoric marine reptile.

Scientists say the reptile, identified as a new species of ichthyosaur, would have been around three metres long – roughly the size of a dolphin.

The ichthyosaur called Xiphodracon goldencapensis, or the “Sword Dragon of Dorset” is the only known example of its kind in existence and experts say it helps fill an important gap in the evolutionary fossil record of ichthyosaurs.

Despite the discovery of thousands of ichthyosaur fossils on the Jurassic coast, this latest discovery is the first described genus of an Early Jurassic ichthyosaur from the region in over 100 years.

The fossil was found by collector Chris Moore in 2001 and was acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, but it had remained unstudied until now.

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A reconstruction of what the Xiphodracon could have looked like Picture: Bob Nicholls

The skeleton has a skull with large eye sockets and a long sword-like snout, and experts said the reptile would have dined out on fish and squid.

A new paper published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology has revealed it to be a new species of ichthyosaur.

Dr Dean Lomax, who co-authored authored the paper identifying the skeleton as a new species, said: “I remember seeing the skeleton for the first time in 2016.

“Back then, I knew it was unusual, but I did not expect it to play such a pivotal role in helping to fill a gap in our understanding of a complex faunal turnover during the Pliensbachian.

A close-up of the skull of the newly named sword dragon ichthyosaur, Xiphodracon goldencapensis Picture: Dr Dean Lomax

“This time is pretty crucial for ichthyosaurs as several families went extinct and new families emerged, yet Xiphodracon is something you might call a ‘missing piece of the ichthyosaur puzzle’.

“It is more closely related to species in the later Early Jurassic (in the Toarcian), and its discovery helps pinpoint when the faunal turnover occurred, being much earlier than expected.”

Ichthyosaur expert and co-author, professor Judy Massare, from the State University of NY at Brockport, USA, said: “Thousands of complete or nearly complete ichthyosaur skeletons are known from strata before and after the Pliensbachian.

“The two faunas are quite distinct, with no species in common, even though the overall ecology is similar.

The skeleton and skull of the newly named sword dragon ichthyosaur, Xiphodracon goldencapensis Picture: Dr Dean Lomax

“Clearly, a major change in species diversity occurred sometime in the Pliensbachian. Xiphodracon helps to determine when the change occurred, but we still don’t know why.”

Dr Erin Maxwell, a co-author and ichthyosaur expert from the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, said: “This skeleton provides critical information for understanding ichthyosaur evolution, but also contributes to our understanding of what life must have been like in the Jurassic seas of Britain.

“The limb bones and teeth are malformed in such a way that points to serious injury or disease while the animal was still alive, and the skull appears to have been bitten by a large predator – likely another much larger species of ichthyosaur- giving us a cause of death for this individual. Life in the Mesozoic oceans was a dangerous prospect.”

The skeleton is planned to go on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.