Fossilised stegosaur bone returns home to Swindon

The vertebra is from the Swindon Stegosaur, which was found in the town in 1874

This fossil might not look like much, but it's part of the largest and most complete stegosaur fossil ever found in the UK.

It's a piece of vertebra - the individual bones that make up the spine.

The rest of the superb stegosaur is on display at the Natural History Museum in London.

But the vertebra will be returning to its hometown of Swindon, where it, and the rest of the skeleton, were found 150 years ago.

Most of the Swindon Stegosaur remains on display at the Natural History Museum in London

The stegosaur fossil was first found in a quarry pit at Swindon Brick and Tile Company in 1874.

The southwest town of Swindon in England was "really important in the history of palaeontology," said Swindon Borough Council councillor Marina Strinkovsky.

"Loads of important fossil hunters lived here or visited Swindon in the late 19th Century to look for specimens."

Most of the skeleton was taken to the Natural History Museum. It was the first stegosaur ever named and described by scientists.

Smaller parts were taken by fossil hunters and became parts of other collections.

The vertebra bone was found by a pair of palaeontologists who noticed it was up for sale, realised how important it was, and wanted to get it back home to Swindon.