Sea creature fossils found in city quarry

Palaeontologists discovered the remains of a sea creature - dating from the Jurassic Era - near Peterborough

A team of palaeontologists has uncovered parts of a Jurassic sea creature in a quarry near Peterborough.

Fossil hunter Jamie Jordan unearthed 20 sections of vertebrae belonging to a ichthyosaur called Ophthalmosaurus - thought to be about 155 million years old.

Mr Jordan, who runs the Fossils Galore museum in March, Cambridgeshire, said the bones were found in "pretty good" condition during last week's dig.

A fundraising effort has begun to raise £5,000 for ground penetration radar to find the rest of the animal's skeleton.

The 20 vertebrae pieces will now be cleaned and preserved

The team at Fossils Galore will now preserve and clean the fossils.

Mr Jordan said the creature would have resembled a dolphin with a long snout, and would have eaten smaller sea animals.

"Ophthalmosaurus means an eye lizard in Greek" he said.

"It was quite sticky and hazardous to get the bits out of the ground. We dug 20ft (6m) deep and found these still covered in clay.

"The creature would have been about 16ft long (5m). The remains we found indicate this is the rear end of the animal.

"We have used our regular dating techniques and its age is a rough estimate."

Opthalmosaurus resembled a dolphin with a long snout - and lived during the Jurassic Period

The exact location of the search has been kept secret for safety and confidentiality reasons.

A £5,000 fundraising effort will begin to source ground penetrating radar to seek out the rest of the remains and continue the excavation.

"These are fossilised bones, they have turned into rock pretty much," Mr Jordan said.

"We need this special archaeological equipment to find the other parts and who knows what else we might discover."

Jamie Jordan and his team at Fossils Galore in March have begun the preservation process of the fossils