SCIENTISTS may have found the missing link in the evolution of a species of prehistoric sea lizard which once terrorised the seas off west Dorset. The fossilised remains of a razor-toothed ichthyosaur, which lived around 193 mil lion years ago, has been dis covered on the shore near Charmouth. Excited boffins says it is only the second ever found from this period and could be an entirely new species. Compared to some of the 40ft long monsters previously uncov ered along the Jurassic Coast, the ichthyosaur is a baby at just 2.5 feet V but its significance in scientific terms could be huge, says Dr Paul Davis, from the Natural History Museum. Fossil ichthyosaurs between 200 and 220 million years old are commonly found in the cliffs between Lyme Regis and Charmouth and several ichthyosaurs that are around 185 million years old have been found in Germany. But Dr Davis said that this was only the second found from the Pliensbachian stage of the Jurassic period of 195 to 190 million years ago. So this is right slap bang in the middle of the big gap and will help us to build a fabulous picture of what was happening in the ichthyosaurs evolution, he said. When you think that most human evolution happened in the last 15 millions years V from hairy creatures climbing trees to reporters asking about ichthyosaurs V you realise what a big gap there is in our knowl edge of these marine reptiles. Dr Davis discovered the fos silised sea monster while lead ing a dig with the West Sussex Geological Society on the National Trusts Golden Cap Estate. The two-thirds complete skeleton was carefully removed at the weekend and now experts are cleaning the amaz ing find at the museums palaeontology conservation unit in London before it is stud ied in greater depth. Dr Davis said: I was walking along the shoreline away from the rest of the group when I spotted a row of vertebra on the flat rock ledges. I immediately recognised it as part of the backbone of the ichthyosaur. I was amazed to see it there as I knew that only one other ichthyosaur fossil had ever been found in this rock layer. We had to wait until the next low tide before we could exca vate the fossil so it was a real thrill to finally see what is only the second one from this period of prehistory to be found. Now it is hoped that the spec imen will go on display at the museums Fossil Roadshow in Lyme Regis from April 8-10 next year. f Ichthyosaurs lived between 220 million and 65 million years ago. They are not dinosaurs but marine reptiles whose closest living reptiles are snakes and lizards. The first ichthyosaur discov ered from the Lower Pliensbachian period in Dorset was found by Chris Moore in 1995. It is now at the Natural History Museum. A spokesman for The National Trust said they gave permission for the Natural History Museum to excavate the ichthyosaur as the museums team are fully trained in the methods of extraction of verte brate fossils and followed the West Dorset Collecting Code of Conduct. The code of conduct promotes responsible and safe fossil col lecting, restricts in-situ digging or prospecting for fossils in the cliffs and promotes the acquisi tion of key scientifically impor tant fossils by registered muse ums.