Previously

Evidence

How did Doris get to the museum?

The circle of life

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One Jurassic day, after a long life, Doris died.

Bearing the battle scars of a true survivor, she floated down to the sea floor. R.I.P. Doris.

illustration of a pliosaurus dying under the sea

WARNING: GORY CONTENT!

As Doris’ corpse started to decay, it filled with gas and lifted off the sea bed again.

Her head started to separate from her body.

illustration of an dead upside-down pliosaurus in the sea with her head coming off

Doris’ carcass settled back on the sea floor and became a tasty treat for other Jurassic marine animals like crocodiles, sharks and tiny invertebrates.

illustration of a shark and crocodile eating a pliosaurus carcass

Eventually Doris’ flesh was all eaten or rotted away. Only her bones were left.
Without flesh to hold them together, all of her bones started to scatter.

illustration of a pliosaurus skeleton on the sea bed

Doris’ bones were buried by sediment (mud) and then more sediment and yet more sediment.

Over millions of years her bones were squashed from the weight of the sediment above and were turned into ‘stone’.

illustration of pliosaurus bones within layers of sediment under the sea

Millions more years passed ...

… the world around the fossil changed and eventually, 150 million years after she died, her fossil rested close to the Earth’s surface near a place called Westbury …

Fossil site map

Exhibit A

Without flesh to hold everything together, bones start to scatter. This ichthyosaur was preserved as its bones started to scatter, just like Doris.

Can you see the teeth scattered above the jaw?

Can you see the scattered backbone and tail?

Exhibit B

This ichthyosaur became a tasty treat for other Jurassic marine animal after it died. Can you see how its bone has been grazed by the star-shaped mouth of a sea urchin?

Exhibit C

When bones are buried by sediment (mud), and then more sediment, over millions of years they can become squashed from the weight.

Can you tell the difference between these fossils? One is a complete fossil pliosaur vertebra and one is a squashed pliosaur vertebra.

Fossil site map

Exhibit D

This is a map of Doris’ fossil as it was when it was discovered. It shows the scattered head and bones.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Fossil site map

Exhibit D

Excavation! An amazing discovery

150 million years after her death, Doris’ fossil skeleton was discovered by collector Simon Carpenter.

Where was Doris found?

How was Doris found?

What tools were used to excavate Doris?

Who helped get Doris out of the ground?

Digging up Doris!

Take a peek at these pictures to see how Doris’ fossil skeleton was excavated

a paper sign in a plastic folder reads 'bristol museum excavation'

The team maps and prepares the site

a team of excavators digs around rocks

The dig

A man in a white boiler suit and blue gloves brushes a fossil

Bones are protected by plaster and fibreglass

a digger digs in rock to reveal a pliosaurus fossil

Making the site bigger

a group of five people stand around a fossil, one is taking a photo. another person is crouched down working on the fossil

Media stars!

a yellow truck drives around the perimeter of the fossil site carrying a crate

Crate her up

a yellow tractor arrives to pick up the large crate with the pliosaurus fossil in it. a man in a white boiler suit crouches down next to the crate

Off she goes to Bristol

a crane lift a large crate containing the pliosaurus fossil onto the 1st floor of a building, where a man waits

Up she comes to her new home at the museum

a paper sign in a plastic folder reads 'bristol museum excavation'
a team of excavators digs around rocks
A man in a white boiler suit and blue gloves brushes a fossil
a digger digs in rock to reveal a pliosaurus fossil
a group of five people stand around a fossil, one is taking a photo. another person is crouched down working on the fossil
a yellow truck drives around the perimeter of the fossil site carrying a crate
a yellow tractor arrives to pick up the large crate with the pliosaurus fossil in it. a man in a white boiler suit crouches down next to the crate
a crane lift a large crate containing the pliosaurus fossil onto the 1st floor of a building, where a man waits

This ammonite was discovered with Doris’ fossil skeleton. It is only found in rocks 150 million years old, so tells us when she was buried!

Aulacostephanus eudoxus Ce9794

What do you call a palaeontologist with a spade in his hand?
Doug!

Curation

Doris joins Bristol Museum’s collection

Doris’ fossil bones were still inside huge blocks of rock when they arrived at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in 1994.

It took museum palaeontologist Roger Vaughan ten years to carefully chip this rock away to reveal them.

The bones were recorded, labelled and stored safely for study.

At Bristol Museum, Doris’ fossil became part of an amazing history…

Bristol palaeontology firsts

Open for business!

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery’s collection first opened for study in 1823.
Wax seals like these were used to label some of the first fossils in the collection.

First Fossil

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery’s first fossil was an ichthyosaur collected by Mary Anning from Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Mary Anning discovered amazing fossils from the age of 11 or 12. These included the first ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs ever discovered by palaeontologists.

How old are you? Have you ever discovered a fossil?

Image: Credited to ‘Mr. Grey’ in Crispin Tickell’s book ‘Mary Anning of Lyme Regis’ (1996) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

First drawing

Palaeontologists William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche used Mary Anning’s first fossil to draw one of the first diagrams of an ichthyosaur skeleton in the world.

Henry De la Beche and Mary Anning were childhood friends. They both lived in Lyme Regis and collected fossils together.

Image: William Conybeare (paper and drawing) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

World exclusive!

In 1824 Mary Anning discovered the first complete plesiosaur skeleton. She sent this drawing of her plesiosaur discovery to William Conybeare in Bristol who broke the news of her amazing discovery.

Can you imagine finding out that such a strange creature once existed?

Image: By Mary Anning (1799-1847) ([1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Latest puzzle!

New fossils are still being added to Bristol’s collection today. These fossil bones are from a new species of Jurassic crocodile.

It is a 3D jigsaw with no instructions and some missing pieces. Sticking it back together will be a painstaking process.

Open for business!

First Fossil

First drawing

World exclusive!

Latest puzzle!

Now you're a plio-expert, what will you do next?

Be a Jurassic Explorer across the galleries at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

See more fossil displays at The Etches Collection, Museum of Jurassic Marine Life, Kimmeridge, Dorset

Visit their website to find opening times.

Join a group

Join Rockwatch, the UK’s Nationwide Geology Club for Children

Find a fossil

Keep your eyes peeled and you never know what you could find!

Previously

Doris the Pliosaurus