HUNDREDS of people visited Westbury Museum over the last fortnight, to see a cast of the jaw of a prehistoric pliosaur, which would have swam in Westbury’s Jurassic waters 150 million years ago.
Sally Hendry, chair of Westbury Heritage Society, whose members volunteer to run the museum, said, “It’s fantastic to have the cast of the pliosaur jaw here and the exhibition has gone down extremely well.
“So many children have come down on their holidays who have just been entranced by it and we’ve tried to do things to amuse the children such as measuring to see if the pliosaur could have eaten them whole, and the answer is always yes!
“It’s great to see so many local people and especially the youngsters get involved with this – thank you to everyone who took the time to see the cast.”
Young visitor, Millie said, “The head and teeth are so big and a bit scary.” Her brother Oliver added, “I would have been frightened if I was about back then!”
The eight-metre pliosaur was discovered in a Westbury clay pit in 1994. It is the world’s only example of a new species of pliosaur, named pliosaurus carpenteri in honour of amateur geologist, Simon Carpenter, who found the fossil.
After excavation, it was taken to Bristol City Museum where it has been studied by Bristol University. The museum nicknamed the female pliosaur “Doris”.
Local artist, Alex Prowse, created his own version of the Jurassic sea monster, which took place of pride next to the cast. Alex’s artwork is one of several illustrations and information boards which was on show for the exhibition, which featured facts about the find, the life of the pliosaur and pictures of its prey.
Westbury also hosted a talk by pliosaur expert, Dr Judyth Sassoon of Bristol University, who presented a talk entitled ‘The Pliosaurs of Westbury’.
The cast of the pliosaur jaw has now been returned to Bristol Museum following the exhibition.
