Look what the dog brought back: a 200-million-year-old fossil found on a beach by a rescued dog is on display
- Raffle the dog discovered the remains of a plesiosaur during a walk in 2007
- After 15 years in the making, the fossil is now on display at a center near Lyme Regis.
Raffle the rescued dog may now be in doggie heaven, but his name lives on, in the form of a 200-million-year-old fossil he discovered.
The remarkably complete remains of a Jurassic-era plesiosaur have finally gone on display, 16 years after Raffle found them at Lyme Regis in Dorset.
In 2007, when he was nine years old, he was out for a walk with owner Tracey Barclay when he came to rest on top of an exposed vertebra that was recognized by Ms. Barclay, an amateur fossil hunter.
Ultimately, the entire fossil was unearthed and, after 15 years of painstaking preparation, is on public display at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Center near Lyme Regis.
Raffle died in 2013, but his rare find, preserved within the fossil-rich ammonite pavement at Monmouth Beach, now bears his name.
Aged nine in 2007, Raffle was out walking with owner Tracey Barclay (pictured together) when he came to rest on top of an exposed vertebra which was recognized by Ms Barclay.
Plesiosaur fossil found by rescue dog Raffle on display at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Center in Dorset
The plesiosaur, a long-necked marine reptile with paddle-like limbs that hunted fish, measured 10 feet 6 inches long and is 70 percent complete. The missing bones were modeled after the existing ones.
Ms Barclay, 59, said: ‘I was taking a walk and Raffle was sitting across from me. When he got up he started scratching the floor. I know of fossils and I could see that they were some vertebrae.
She said she then found a plesiosaur paddle bone that suggested there would be more to unearth.
Ultimately, the entire fossil was unearthed, and after 15 years of painstaking preparation, it is now on public display at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Center near Lyme Regis.
“It’s quite an exciting thing to finally see it on display,” he added. “It seems correct to call it after Raffle, after all, it was his find.”
Grant Field from the heritage center said: ‘This was a very rare find. Our center is free so everyone can come and see Raffle the plesiosaur.
Some of the best preserved plesiosaurs in the world have been found in Dorset. The first complete one was found by paleontologist Mary Anning at Lyme Regis in 1824.