The perfectly preserved three foot long relic of a Wodnika will help palaeontologists gain a much clearer view on how the prehistoric British shark once lived.

Even its internal cartilage skeleton has survived for 240 million years  before being discovered in Durham.

Scientists at the museum say the shark resembles a  modern day bullhead shark and that its tail shape shows that it must have been a strong swimmer.

The fossil also reveals  other new details  such as the shape of its teeth and fins.

Previous Wodnika fossils have been only bone and teeth fragments.

In the late Permian period Wodnika would have been the largest fish swimming in the  oceans covering what is now northern Europe.

Natural History Museum expert Alison Longbottom said: "To find a British shark so well preserved is very rare.

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THE SHARK THAT CAME BACK.

30.07.08, 7:49pm

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