Palaeontology

Skull of colossal prehistoric 'sea monster' found in Dorset cliffs

By T.K. Randall
December 11, 2023 ·  13 comments

Sir David Attenborough stands next to the enormous pliosaur skull. Image Credit: BBC Studios When it comes to prehistoric monsters, most people tend to think of Tyrannosaurus rex or any of the other large predatory dinosaurs that roamed the Earth tens of millions of years ago.

The prehistoric oceans, however, were home to their own menagerie of titanic meat-eating beasts.

One of these was the pliosaur - a gargantuan marine reptile that lived around 150 million years ago.

Measuring up to 15 meters in length, these huge creatures feasted upon various species of fish as well as sharks, ichthyosaurs and any dinosaurs that had the misfortune to venture too close.

Now, palaeontologists have succeeded in extracting a two-meter-long pliosaur skull from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast in England. The specimen, which is remarkably well-preserved, will be the subject of a new Sir David Attenborough documentary due to air on the BBC on New Year's Day."It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on," said palaeontologist Steve Etches. "What makes it unique is it's complete. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail."

Of particular note is the creature's teeth - all 130 of them.

Razor-sharp and with fine ridges designed to shear through flesh, they would have ensured a swift end to anything unlucky enough to find itself in the mouth of one of these colossal predators.

"The animal would have been so massive that I think it would have been able to prey effectively on anything that was unfortunate enough to be in its space," said Bristol University's Dr Andre Rowe.

"I have no doubt that this was sort of like an underwater T. rex."


Source: BBC News | Comments (13)

Tags: Pliosaur