Scientists marvel at the fossilised head of an underwater 'killing machine' from the Jurassic.

The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago.

The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator.

The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year’s Day.

  • kellyaster@kbin.social
    11·
    11 months ago

    It’s hard to believe how well it’s preserved. They’re never this complete! It sounds like they might look for the rest of the skeleton, which will be exposed and lost to erosion anyway if it is there. If we’re lucky, we’ll also find clues about its eating habits, which isn’t out of the realm of probability considering how intact they found the skull. Truly remarkable, I really want to see that upcoming Attenborough documentary.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      It’s wild to think about how many incredible fossils are out there right now, buried deep and not currently in a place that is being eroded so that we happen to stumble on them during our incredibly tiny slice of geological time.