IchthyosaurIchthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – ἰχθύς and σαῦρος) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, although the term is now used more for the parent clade of the Ichthyosauria). Ichthyosaurs thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fossil evidence, they first appeared around 250 million years ago (Ma) and at least one species survived until about 90 million years ago, into the Late Cretaceous.
SwanageSwanage (ˈswɒnᵻdʒ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town.
PoolePoole (puːl) is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The town had an estimated population of 151,500 (mid-2016 census estimates) making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.
DorsetDorset (ˈdɔːrsᵻt ; archaically: Dorsetshire ˈdɔːrsᵻt.ʃɪər,_-ʃər , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The county town is Dorchester and the largest settlement is Bournemouth. The county has an area of and a population of 772,268. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, which contains several of county's largest settlements: Bournemouth (183,491), Poole (151,500), and Christchurch (31,372).
BournemouthBournemouth (ˈbɔːrnməθ) is a coastal resort town on the south coast in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole borough of Dorset, England. The town's urban subdivision had a population of 187,503 at the 2011 census making it the largest town in the county; the town is part of the South East Dorset conurbation, which has a population of 465,000. Founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, in an area of deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers, as a health resort, Bournemouth became a town in 1870, with growth from the arrival of the railway.
