Xiphodracon & Plesionectes: New “Sword Dragon” Ichthyosaur from England and Ultra Long-Necked Plesiosaur from Germany

Paleontologists have announced two remarkable Early Jurᴀssic marine reptile discoveries from opposite sides of the North Sea: the “Sword Dragon” ichthyosaur Xiphodracon goldencapensis from England’s Jurᴀssic Coast and the ultra long-necked plesiosauroid Plesionectes longicollum from Germany’s Posidonia Shale.

Xiphodracon goldencapensis, described in October 2025 in Papers in Palaeontology, comes from a near-complete skeleton found in 2001 near Golden Cap, Dorset. The dolphin-sized leptonectid (~3 m long) sported an exceptionally elongated, sword-like snout and lived ~190 million years ago during the Pliensbachian stage. Its anatomy fills a critical gap in ichthyosaur evolution during a period of faunal turnover. The specimen is now at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Meanwhile, Plesionectes longicollum (“long-necked near-swimmer”), published in August 2025 in PeerJ, was identified from a 47-year-old fossil collected in 1978 near Holzmaden, Germany. This ~183-million-year-old plesiosauroid boasts one of the longest necks relative to body size among Early Jurᴀssic forms and represents the oldest known plesiosaur from the famous Holzmaden Lagerstätte. The nearly complete skeleton, with preserved soft-tissue traces, reveals a small-bodied (~3 m) swimmer adapted for precise manoeuvrability in open marine waters.

Together these finds demonstrate that Early Jurᴀssic seas around what is now Britain and Germany hosted highly specialised, diverse marine reptiles. Both specimens are rewriting our understanding of the post-Triᴀssic recovery and radiation of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs just as the Age of Dinosaurs was beginning.