Residents of Wareham, Swanage and Weymouth will soon have a unique chance to get up close and personal with a 190-million-year-old marine reptile thanks to a partnership between the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team, the Natural History Museum, Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Dorset County Council's Library service.

A stunning ichthyosaur (ik-thee-o-sore) fossil found near Charmouth in West Dorset will be on show in a display travelling throughout the Jurassic Coast until May 2008. The display has been travelling through East Devon and is making its way to Wareham public library on Thursday 8 November. It will move on to Swanage library on 6 December and then to Weymouth library on 10 January.

The towns are all Gateway Towns for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and so are ideally located to enable residents to find out more about the outstanding natural heritage on their doorstep. The venues for the display are public libraries in order to make the display as freely accessible as possible, and to encourage people to find out more for themselves.

The fossil was unearthed two and a half years ago by Dr Paul Davis from the Natural History Museum, where the ichthyosaur now normally resides as part of the national collection. Since its discovery, museum experts have carefully conserved and prepared the ichthyosaur for an at least temporary return to its former home along the Jurassic Coast. The specimen was found in an unusual location for this type of ichthyosaur and may yet prove to be a new species.

Dr Davis said: "It's a real thrill to see the ichthyosaur going on show so near to where it was found. The Jurassic Coast holds a wealth of stories about life millions of years ago and this display highlights how new finds are continually adding to our understanding of the fossils already looked after by the Museum."

Dr Sam Rose from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team said: "We want to put this outstanding fossil reptile into places in which you might not normally expect to see this type of thing; we are hoping people will go in for a book, CD or leaflet and come out understanding a bit more about the history of the Earth."

Environment portfolio holder Hilary Cox said: "Having been in hiding for 190 million years, it is about time that the ichthyosaur put itself about more. It is bound to provoke a lot of interest among people who are picking up their books."

The display features the fossilised skeleton of the ichthyosaur with two accompanying panels of information about the Jurassic Coast and the fossils that are found there, as well as how the Natural History Museum works on this coastline. 

After Weymouth the display will go on to two further venues in Dorset before returning to London.