How one manâs near-death experience led to the discovery of the first Jurassic sea dragon in Wales | TheBriefWire
How one manâs near-death experience led to the discovery of the first Jurassic sea dragon in Wales
Published 28 July 2026 ¡ science
Matthew Myerscoughâs remarkable find is one of many detailed in his new book. But his journey into fossil hunting began years earlier, when he was
Matthew Myerscoughâs remarkable find is one of many detailed in his new book. But his journey into fossil hunting began years earlier, when he was caught in an avalanche When Matthew Myerscough walks along a beach, he cannot help hunting for fossils.
âI think my fossil radar is always on â even if Iâm not looking, itâs hard sometimes to not see things,â says the 40-year-old civil engineer, who has discovered thousands of fossils on British beaches.
It was while he was ânot lookingâ on Lavernock beach near Penarth, south Wales, that he recently stumbled across the fossilised bone of an early type of plesiosaur, a marine reptile that roamed the oceans while dinosaurs stalked the land during the early Jurassic period.
Published: July 28, 2026 ⢠2:30 PM IST ¡ Updated: July 28, 2026 ⢠3:08 PM ISTBy TheBriefWire Editorial Team
Key points
Matthew Myerscoughâs remarkable find is one of many detailed in his new book.
But his journey into fossil hunting began years earlier, when he was caught in an avalanche When Matthew Myerscough walks along a beach, he cannot help hunting for fossils.
âI think my fossil radar is always on â even if Iâm not looking, itâs hard sometimes to not see things,â says the 40-year-old civil engineer, who has discovered thousands of fossils on British beaches.
It was while he was ânot lookingâ on Lavernock beach near Penarth, south Wales, that he recently stumbled across the fossilised bone of an early type of plesiosaur, a marine reptile that roamed the oceans while dinosaurs stalked the land during the early Jurassic period.
The BriefWire