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Paleontologists have finally solved the mystery behind an elusive "sword dragon" skeleton found on the U.K.'s Jurassic Coast.

In an Oct. 10 press release from the University of Manchester, officials said the skeleton — found near Dorset's Gold Cap in 2001 — is a newly identified species of ichthyosaur.

Alive around the same time as dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs were air-breathing marine reptiles that once "ruled the ancient oceans," per officials.

TERRIFYING ANCIENT PREDATOR WITH 'POWERFUL CLAWS' UNEARTHED, ITS LAST MEAL STILL IN ITS JAWS

The ancient reptile has been named Xiphodracon goldencapensis, or the "Sword Dragon of Dorset." Scientists say it dates back to the Pliensbachian period, roughly 193 to 184 million years ag

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