Palaeontology

15-ton 'sea monster' found in Antarctica

By T.K. Randall
June 9, 2019

Image: Antarctica - Petermann Island
Credit: W. Bulach / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Originally discovered on Antarctica's Seymour Island during an expedition all the way back in 1989, the record-breaking specimen, which is the heaviest of its kind ever found, took years to unearth.

Believed to date back to the Cretaceous era, this prehistoric 'sea monster' was an elasmosaur - a type of plesiosaur that looked a bit like a large manatee with a very long neck and four flippers.Measuring almost 40ft in length and weighing in at 15 tons, this enormous creature would have been a force to be reckoned with in the ocean at a time when Tyrannosaurus rex roamed the land.

The discovery adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that there existed a diverse and thriving marine ecosystem in the years prior to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

"Even in Antarctica, there were lots of happy elasmosaurs," said palaeontologist Anne Schulp.

Fossil 'sea monster' found in Antarctica was the heaviest of its kindhttps://t.co/guAev8zgvG

The 15-ton elasmosaur adds to evidence that a vibrant marine ecosystem existed just before the dinosaur mass extinction. pic.twitter.com/zEaRxjIIdR

— fj (@gecko39) June 8, 2019

Source: National Geographic

Tags: Elasmosaur