The Bible's Leviathan? Amateur Fossil Discovery Identified as Potentially Largest Marine Reptile to Ever Exist
For every paleontologist who spent his entire career searching for that one, magnificent find that would cement his name in the annals of history, there was an amateur who stumbled upon such a find by sheer accident.
And sometimes, two or three amateurs have stumbled upon finds that made the jaws of career paleontologists drop in wonder.
That happened with the discovery of the fossilized remains of a giant ichthyosaur, thought to be one of the largest marine reptiles to ever exist.
The jawbone of one of these enormous creatures was found by fossil hunter Paul de la Salle as he and his wife were trawling the beaches of Somerset, England, looking for fossils in 2016, according to the BBC.
Based on the size of the jawbone alone, paleontologist Dean Lomax of the University of Bristol believed the animal was possibly the same length as a blue whale (the current largest animal in the world).
He estimated the creature could have been over 82 feet long.
That said, while Lomax and de la Salle were hopeful that the jawbone unearthed supported that supposition, they needed more evidence if they wanted to confirm that hypothesis.
Further evidence came in the form of a second jawbone, this time discovered by father and daughter amateurs Justin and Ruby Reynolds in 2020, when Ruby was only 11 years old.
About six miles down the beach from where de la Salle found the jawbone, they found another jawbone from the same type of creature, similar in dimension to the original.
De la Salle, upon hearing of their find, joined Reynolds in unearthing further remains of this giant sea monster, the three of them finding the last pieces of jawbone in 2022.
The findings of the amateurs were published in the journal PloS One on April 17, with Lomax as the primary author and Reynolds, his daughter and de la Salle credited as co-authors.
Lomax expressed his belief, as reported by the British Natural History Museum, that the creature — dubbed Ichthyotitan severnensis — lived in the late Triassic period.
This would have been an amazing find for a seasoned paleontologist, but for a few amateurs, including a little girl, to find such a remarkable creature was nothing short of incredible.
As Lomax told the BBC, “You don’t have to be a world expert. As long as you have that bit of patience and a keen eye, you can make a discovery.”
Enormous ancient sea reptile identified from amateur fossil find https://t.co/dssMnEhbCD
— BBC Science News (@BBCScienceNews) April 17, 2024
The discovery of this colossal beast has made Christians wonder whether it could be the biblical Leviathan described in Job 41.
It’s possible.
Regardless, however, the discovery of this massive monster speaks to the infinite variety of God’s creation and bears incredible witness to the creator of all things, great and small.
Who knows what other ancient creatures people might find by accident that will speak directly to the glory and the power of our all-mighty creator?
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