Close observation by a fossil enthusiast along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England, led to the discovery of a 150 million year old pliosaur skull.
This ancient marine reptile, known for its formidable bite force, potentially superior to that of Tyrannosaurus rex, has now been recognized by the Guinness Book Of World Records for having the most complete pliosaur skull found to date, points out IFLScience.
Rachael Funnell
Named "SeaRex", the skull shows unparalleled preservation, with 95 percent of its surface intact and 130 pointed teeth, fixed in place as they would have been when the creature roamed the seas during the Jurassic period.
The discovery was initially triggered by Phil Jacobs, who stumbled upon the pliosaur's snout on the beach, and subsequently alerted fossil expert Steve Etches MBE. Using drones and rope expeditions up the cliff, the team managed to locate and eventually extract the huge skull, 2 meters long, from an altitude of 12 meters above the beach.
The importance of this discovery cannot be underestimated, with pliosaur expert Dr. Judyth Sassoon, from the University of Bristol, highlighting its exceptional preservation. "I've studied many Kimmeridgian pliosaurs, but I've never seen one that was so well preserved. It contains many anatomical details in a single specimen that are only found partially preserved in other specimens," he says.
The excavation, a feat of determination and skill, was reported in the BBC program "Attenborough And The Giant Sea Monster", capturing the attention and imagination of Sir David Attenborough himself, who was amazed at the scale of the discovery.
Now proudly on display at the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge, Dorset, the "SeaRex" skull represents a monumental contribution to paleontology, offering an unparalleled insight into the life of pliosaurs.
The team involved in the recovery and study of the skull believes that the rest of the pliosaur's body remains buried along the Jurassic Coast, with partial remains already identified. This suggests that further excavations could reveal even more about this extraordinary specimen.
