A partial skeleton found in the Fernie Formation in British Columbia, Canada, back in 1916 represents a new genus and species of an extinct marine reptile called ichthyosaur, according to an international team of paleontologists.

Fernatator prenticei lived in North America during the Early Jurassic epoch, around 190 million years ago.

“Ichthyosaurs — marine reptiles superficially resembling dolphins — were important marine predators from the Early Triassic (Olenekian) to the beginning of the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian),” said Professor Judy Massare of SUNY College at Brockport and colleagues.

“They were the dominant large predators in the Triassic and Early Jurassic oceans.”

“Thousands of partial and complete skeletons of Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs have been collected, mainly from the UK and Germany.”

“Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs from North America are rare,” they noted.

“Thus, the discovery of a partial skeleton from western Canada is significant.”

A labrador-sized dinosaur was wrongly categorised when it was found and is actually a new species, scientists have discovered.

Its new name is Enigmacursor - meaning puzzling runner - and it lived about 150 million years ago, running around the feet of famous giants like the Stegosaurus.

It was originally classified as a Nanosaurus but scientists now conclude it is a different animal.

Enigmacursor is tiny by comparison. At 64 cm tall and 180 cm long it is about the height of a labrador, but with much bigger feet and a tail that was "probably longer than the rest of the dinosaur," says Professor Susannah Maidment.

An interesting look around the La Brea Tar Pits, including some behind the scenes of the facilities where they handle the recovered fossils.