The skull of a giant sea monster, identified as a Pliosaur , was unearthed in a recent discovery halfway up a 15m high cliff in Dorset, near Kimmeridge Bay, southwest England, where famous for its Jurassic coasts which are a UNESCO world heritage site.
The fossil was discovered by Philip Jacobs, who has been passionately hunting for marine reptile fossils on the Jurassic coast for decades. He contacted local paleontologist Steve Etches to conduct the excavation.
Paleontologist Steve Etches with a Pliosaurus skull. (Photo: Jonathan Amos).
Pliosaurs were one of the most ferocious predators of the Jurassic period , once dominating the ancient oceans 150 million years ago.
Paleontologist Etches described this as one of the best fossils he has ever studied, completely preserved with perfect quality.
Biologists swing on ropes to unearth fossils on steep cliffs on the coast of Dorset, England. (Photo: Theguardian).
The giant skull is 2m long, showing off 130 sharp teeth, capable of causing fatal bites. With a body length of 10-12 m. Pliosaurs are predators that once dominated the ocean, likened to underwater tyrannosaurs.
From this rare and perfect fossil, scientists predict they will gain new insights into the behavior and biological characteristics of the Pliosaur’s hunting ability.
Illustration of a Pliosaur. (Photo: Jonathan Amos).
Paleontologist Etches plans to display the skull at his museum in Kimmeridge, England; At the same time, it emphasized the urgency of completing excavations to find the remains of the skeleton, because the cliff is rapidly eroding and is likely to collapse into the sea.
The team believes that the entire Pliosaur may still be inside the cliff, not just the skull, which reveals more information than any other part of the creature’s skeleton.
