THE STAR ichthyosaur skull at Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery finally has a name following months of deliberations, suggestions and votes.
A naming competition was announced earlier this year and more than 100 suggestions were whittled down to five by a panel of judges consisting of hugely respected palaeontologists before being put to the public vote.
The winning name ‘Finn’ – which received 59 per cent of the vote – was suggested by six-year-old Annabelle Elvis who wins a special dino-themed goody bag.
Annabelle, who is from Birmingham, said she was really excited when she found she had won.
“I thought of the name Finn because the ichthyosaur has a fin it uses to swim.
“It’s also a bit like a dolphin, and I have a friend called Finn.”
Annabelle’s mum Ruth said: “We told her this morning when she was in bed waking up – she was so happy to hear she had won.”
Annabelle’s grandma Rosemary Elvis said she was so proud.
“Last time they came to The Herbert, all she wanted to tell me was that she had entered this naming competition with her suggestion and it’s amazing that she’s now won.
“A real fairytale story.”
The ichthyosaur display will be updated to feature a plaque containing its new name alongside Annabelle’s.
Herbert curator Ali Wells said: “We had loads of great suggestions for the ichthyosaur’s name, including naming it after our founder Sir Alfred Herbert.
“However, I’m really happy with the name the public have voted for.”
She added the judges -, Emma Bernard from the Natural History Museum and Jon Radley from Museums Warwickshire – liked ‘Finn’ because it evoked the anatomy of the ancient marine reptile. Many of the species had a dorsal fin on top of their body.
“Our ichthyosaur is one of our prized items, one we’re incredibly proud to be able to display.
“So I’m really pleased it now has its own name which I think will help visitors, in particular younger ones, to really relate to the specimen, and then incidentally with our local natural history.
“This feels particularly pertinent with the current challenges the planet is facing.”
This specimen,and tens of others, was found at Harbury Cement Quarry by a well-known Coventry naturalist and member of the Coventry and District Natural History and Scientific Society, EF Nicholls. He arranged for the skull to be moved from the quarry to Coventry for display.
Whilst transporting the heavy specimen on his bike saddle, his tired son offloaded his cargo in a ditch at Princethorpe.
He was severely reprimanded by his father and made to return to the ditch the next morning and complete the fossil’s journey to Coventry, where it was placed in the Field Club room at Upper York Street.
The Nicholls’s fossil collection was given to the Herbert in 1961, the year after the museum opened.
This specimen was a key part of its natural science displays from 2008 to 2020 and is now the central piece in its Warwickshire Jurassic Sea display alongside Dippy in the Covered Court.
