Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio Solent,6 mins

Casts of famous Mary Anning fossil, thought destroyed in WW2, found

Steve Harris

Available for over a year

On the last night of the Blitz in 1941, a German bomb fell on the Royal College of Surgeons in central London, destroying a hugely important fossil, which experts believe was found by the pioneering Dorset palaeontologist Mary Anning over 200 years ago. A drawing of the ichthyosaur's skeleton was the only surviving evidence - or so scientists thought. Now, two plaster casts have been found in the archives of American and German museums, providing more accurate depictions of the animal's bones than the surviving drawing. Palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax, who found the two casts, has been speaking to BBC Radio Solent's Steve Harris.

Programme Website
More episodes