Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Thomas Hawkins’ The Book of the Great Sea-dragons, Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri, published in London in 1840.

Thomas Hawkins (1810–1889) was an eccentric, highly passionate English fossil collector and dealer. He amassed one of the finest collections of marine reptile fossils from the Lower Lias limestone deposits of Somerset and Dorset. He eventually sold his vast collection to the British Museum.

Plesiosaurus was an extinct marine reptile that thrived during the Early Jurassic period. Though it lived alongside dinosaurs, it belonged to a distinct group of aquatic reptiles. Famous for its broad body, short tail, and extraordinarily long neck, it navigated the oceans using four large, paddle-like flippers, moving through the water in a sweeping motion that resembled underwater flight. It utilized its needle-sharp, interlocking teeth as a trap to catch fish and squid, while its air-breathing nature forced it to regularly surface for oxygen. Its fossil history is closely tied to pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning, who discovered the first complete skeleton along the coast of England.