A RALLYING call has been made to Coventrians to help name the city’s very own prehistoric skull.
Coventry’s Herbert Museum and Art Gallery is looking to give its popular ichthyosaur skull a name following the arrival of Dippy the Dinosaur last year.
The skull underwent some conservation work last year bringing a host of new features to the surface.
The Herbert will run a naming competition with the person who provides the winning name up for a special prize.
The naming competition will open tomorrow (January 13) to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Megalosaurus bucklandii, the first-ever dinosaur to be officially named.
People will have a month to submit a name and the winner will be named in time for the Easter school holidays.
Herbert curator Ali Wells said: “The ichthyosaur skull is an incredible specimen which helps us understand the region’s Jurassic past. It also has a wonderfully rich history since it was discovered in a Warwickshire quarry in 1933.
“So I am excited to invite the people of Coventry to come up with a name for our star fossil.”
This specimen was found at Harbury Cement Quarry before well-known city naturalist EF Nicholls, arranged for the skull to be moved from the quarry to Coventry for display.
The Nicholls fossil collection was given to the Herbert in 1961, the year after the museum opened.
