Orion1
Oct28-09, 10:24 AM
The fossilised skull of a pliosaur, the largest marine reptile that ever lived, has been discovered along the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Found on the shores of Weymouth Bay, experts believe the head - measuring more than two metres long - contains the biggest jaws ever found in Britain, and possibly the world. This pliosaur lived in the Jurassic seas that covered Dorset 155 million years ago and was at least 12 metres long. In 2006 a pliosaur skeleton was discovered at Svalbard in northern Norway, but the skull was missing.
Dr David Martill of Portsmouth University said: "This is one of the largest, if not the largest, pliosaur skull found anywhere in the world and contains features that have not been seen before. It could be a species new to science.". The skull - which is 90 per cent complete - was discovered by local fossil hunter Kevan Sheehan, who recovered the heavy fragments over a number of years from a Dorset beach.
The pliosaur skull is just the latest fossil to be discovered on the Jurassic Coast, Britain's only natural World Heritage Site, which runs along 95 miles of the Devon and Dorset coastline.
Reference:
pliosaur skull - www.physorg.com (http://www.physorg.com/news175895874.html)
Dr David Martill of Portsmouth University said: "This is one of the largest, if not the largest, pliosaur skull found anywhere in the world and contains features that have not been seen before. It could be a species new to science.". The skull - which is 90 per cent complete - was discovered by local fossil hunter Kevan Sheehan, who recovered the heavy fragments over a number of years from a Dorset beach.
The pliosaur skull is just the latest fossil to be discovered on the Jurassic Coast, Britain's only natural World Heritage Site, which runs along 95 miles of the Devon and Dorset coastline.
Reference:
pliosaur skull - www.physorg.com (http://www.physorg.com/news175895874.html)