- Extensive restoration on Jurassic Coast
- Potential new pliosaur species
- Enormous pliosaur cranium discovered
A skull of an enormous marine creature that roamed the Earth’s surface for approximately 150 million years has been unearthed off the coast of England.
Discovered along the Jurassic Coast of Dorset, the nearly seven-foot-long fossil belonged to a pliosaur, an extinct marine reptile.
A group of seasoned scientists and paleontologists will accompany him as they undertake excavation and restoration of the extraordinary find, which they hypothesize may represent an entirely new species of a pliosaur.
The “ultimate killing machine” was the ancient pliosaur, which could traverse the ocean rapidly and consume its prey with a single bite.
There are approximately 130 long, razor-sharp teeth on the skull. Fine ridges on the back of each tooth enable it to penetrate the tissues of its prey and position itself for a swift second assault.
Scientists claim that dolphin-like creatures and other pliosaurs comprised its prey.
The mandible strength of pliosaurs was over twofold that of contemporary saltwater crocodiles.
“The creature would have been so enormous that I believe it could have effectively hunted anything unfortunate enough to be in its vicinity,” said Andre Rowe, a palaeobiologist from Bristol University.
The organisms ranged in length from 32 to 39 feet and propelled themselves with four powerful flipper-like appendages.
Rowe stated, “I have no doubt that this was comparable to an underwater T. Rex.”
Last year, fossil enthusiast Phil Jacobs found a massive pliosaur jaw while walking around Kimmeridge Bay’s rocky beach. It was an extraordinary discovery.
The location is widely recognized for its fossils and is home to several significant geological findings along the Jurassic Coast.
Over three decades ago, Dr. Steve Etches MBE began acquiring more than 2,000 specimens; he discovered many of these.
Mr. Etches was called to assess the discovery and suggested the skull’s top may still be in the cliff.
He assembled a group of specialists to continue excavating the fossil, including Chris Moore, a fellow fossil explorer who operates a modest family fossil enterprise in Charmouth.
The eager fossil hunters have worked together for decades, but this fossil is their most significant discovery.
Dr. Etches remarked, “Today, nothing is comparable to it.”
It is a substantial carnivorous reptile, among the largest ever inhabited the ocean floor. These creatures are even more enormous and ferocious than T-Reeks.
After the skull was successfully extracted, it was transported to Mr. Etches’s nearby workshop, where restoration work commenced. Several months were required to revive it.
Mr. Moore used shards of the famous trihedral pliosaur tooth from the cliff to make cranium crowns.
By utilizing the expertise of paleobiologists, visual effects sequences, and digital images, spectators will be treated to an unprecedented level of scientific investigation as they are provided with an in-depth examination of the pliosaur’s appearance, locomotion, and prey hunting.
