Dog Walker Stunned After Discovering '65 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Skeleton'

A dog walker was stopped in his tracks after discovering the five-and-a-half foot long skeleton of what he believes to be a 65-million-year-old dinosaur.

Psychiatric nurse and amateur archaeologist, Jon Gopsill, was taking his cockapoos Poppy and Sam out on the beach in Stolford, Somerset, UK, on Saturday when the pooches drew his attention to a bone.

But the 54-year-old was 'blown away' when he realised the bone in question was in fact a part of a much larger and more intriguing structure.

Caters

After taking lots of snaps and doing a bit of research, Mr Gopsill reached the conclusion that what he found was most likely the fossil remains of an ichthyosaur, which was, a prehistoric porpoise-like sea mammal that lived during the Jurassic period.

He has since tried to verify this with the National History Museum and Somerset Heritage Centre, but he is still awaiting a response.

Reflecting on the moment he made the discovery, he said: "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.

"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.

"We were at the beach when I saw this thing and thought, 'What's that?' so I went a bit closer and thought, 'Wow.'"

Caters

A fairly important part of the skeleton is nowhere to be found, but Mr Gopsill reckons he has a decent idea of what it is.

He said: "It doesn't have a head, I have looked around but I can't find it.

"I thought it was obviously a fossilised sea creature, possibly an ichthyosaur. It has been there for at least 65 million years.

"I realised straight away 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."

Caters

Bizarrely, Poppy led him to another fossil the following day, but Mr Gopsill's wife reckons he's just getting lucky.

He said: "I couldn't believe it, it's stunning - I've taught her what fossils are but I didn't expect her to bring me one.

"My wife says it was just luck - I think having had the stormy weather recently has washed a lot of mud out so the rocks were a little bit more exposed."

LADbible has contacted the National History Museum for comment.

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Animals

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey