A report into a bizarre animal attack has been published after a Freedom of Information request.
Dinosaur expert Dr Dean Lomax (you know – the one your Mum goes jelly-kneed over when he’s on BBC Breakfast) had a lucky escape when he was attacked by a 181-million-year-old ichthyosaur. The 32-foot Temnodontosaurus was discovered in a state of petro-hibernation on the bed of Rutland Water in 2021. The emaciated animal was presumed to be a well-preserved fossil, and was subsequently excavated by Lomax and other palaeontologists. The dig proceeded normally, but when Lomax posed next to the animal for a photo, it lunged, gripping him in its jaws.
Dr Lomax, who escaped with minor lacerations, credited the animal’s poor condition for his escape: “Ichthyosaurs—especially of this size—are powerful marine predators. Had this one not been so underweight (and if it were in the water), I wouldn’t be here, now, sharing this slightly-unbelievable story.”
Although rare, such attacks are becoming more frequent, as humans excavate into the earth’s crust in their insatiable search for metal ores, minerals, and more rocks.
In 1997, researchers in Texas were excavating a cache of dinosaur eggs belonging to the large herbivore, Sauroposeidon. Although the eggs were fossilised and no longer viable, the attendant adult was only petro-hibernating, and had recently recovered after being exposed by workers building a new road. When the research team failed to return to their department at the University Of Texas In Austin, local rangers were asked to investigate, and discovered the camp in a state of “biblical destruction”.
In 2001, amateur fossil collector Ava Spriggs temporarily lost the sight in her left eye when a petro-hibernating belemnite inked her as she dug it out of Jurassic clay in a disused Peterborough brick pit. The 15-year-old from nearby Deeping St. James quickly recovered, but her stepfather voiced concerns about the lack of adequate warning signs in the area.
And in 2012, location scouts from BBC Wales, who were visiting a quarry in Gloucestershire for Doctor Who, were attacked by an unidentified theropod, thought to be Proceratosaurus. In the unofficial Russell T Davies biography, ‘Rushed Endings’, author Adrian Darvell claimed that an attempt was made to capture the dinosaur in order to write it into the Tenth Doctor story arc: “A couple of workers from a nearby farm were hired to help wrangle the beast. But you’ve seen how aloof peacocks are. Now imagine it more aloof, bigger, and with teeth. There was a lot of blood.”
Melton and Rutland Police urged people to avoid areas where incidents of petro-hibernation were suspected, placing particular emphasis on palaeoartists, whom they say swarm to each location in the hope of updating their reference libraries. Beware! The Zine reached out to Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Anglia Water, but they have yet to comment.
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| An artist's reconstruction of Lomax and the ichthyosaur, moments before nomming. |
A Growing Concern
Although rare, such attacks are becoming more frequent, as humans excavate into the earth’s crust in their insatiable search for metal ores, minerals, and more rocks.
In 1997, researchers in Texas were excavating a cache of dinosaur eggs belonging to the large herbivore, Sauroposeidon. Although the eggs were fossilised and no longer viable, the attendant adult was only petro-hibernating, and had recently recovered after being exposed by workers building a new road. When the research team failed to return to their department at the University Of Texas In Austin, local rangers were asked to investigate, and discovered the camp in a state of “biblical destruction”.
In 2001, amateur fossil collector Ava Spriggs temporarily lost the sight in her left eye when a petro-hibernating belemnite inked her as she dug it out of Jurassic clay in a disused Peterborough brick pit. The 15-year-old from nearby Deeping St. James quickly recovered, but her stepfather voiced concerns about the lack of adequate warning signs in the area.
And in 2012, location scouts from BBC Wales, who were visiting a quarry in Gloucestershire for Doctor Who, were attacked by an unidentified theropod, thought to be Proceratosaurus. In the unofficial Russell T Davies biography, ‘Rushed Endings’, author Adrian Darvell claimed that an attempt was made to capture the dinosaur in order to write it into the Tenth Doctor story arc: “A couple of workers from a nearby farm were hired to help wrangle the beast. But you’ve seen how aloof peacocks are. Now imagine it more aloof, bigger, and with teeth. There was a lot of blood.”
Melton and Rutland Police urged people to avoid areas where incidents of petro-hibernation were suspected, placing particular emphasis on palaeoartists, whom they say swarm to each location in the hope of updating their reference libraries. Beware! The Zine reached out to Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Anglia Water, but they have yet to comment.
