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Recently unearthed pliosaur fossil reveals largest sea reptile yet

Posted Feb 27, 2008 at 08:47PM by Ceasar S. Listed in: Paleontology
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Recently unearthed sea monster fossil reveals largest sea reptile yet - Image 1


Be it sea dragon or just plain sea monster, the pliosaurus was the Jurassic era's "terror of the deep." And paleontologists unearthed a 150-million year-old fossilized specimen of the underwater dinosaur when they encountered the first fossils in Spitspergen, Svalbard, Norway back in 2006. But recently, the National History Museum in Oslo believe it's the largest yet - being 20% larger than the last discovered fossil remains in Australia.

In fact, the Australian "Kronosaurus" was thought to be approximately 10 to 11 meters (33 to 36 feet) long. But the Svalbard discovery, now called "The Monster," is estimated to be 15 meters (50 feet) long and could potentially be another species of plesiosaur.

Before both discoveries, scientists estimated that the average plesiosaur actually reached 5 to 6 meters (16 to 20 feet) in length. That's just twice the length of the Svalbard monster's flipper! Talk about making a big mistake.

Pliosaurs are most memorable for having a close semblance of the crocodile form, though in exchange for legs, it had flippers. While being in the order of the plesiosaur, pliosaurs were short-necked and possessed more powerful jaws and sharp teeth. The current consensus is that pliosaurus could swim in deeper depths of the ocean.

But since they were considered the "top predators" of waters, they often visited shallower depths to snag unwary prey - other large plesiosaurs included. So if giant tentacles of a colossal deep-sea squid don't faze you, this sea reptile probably would.

Take a load of those teeth! Forget Great Whites, people. Make like a sardine and can yourself if you spot a living specimen coming at you. And truth be told, nobody can tell if you peed in the ocean.

[Via BBC News] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

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2 Comments


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   by exionzero - 2008-02-27
 » wow, that's inpressive!
thankfully I've trained on monster hunter on the PSP, so I should be well prepared to pilfer the scales of this amphibious foe!


   Re: Tim Y. (QJ. NET Staff) - 2008-02-28
 » Same here...
Sonic Bow, check. Sonic Bombs, check. Barrel Bombs, check. Cephalos armor set, check...


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