A massive sea monster has been discovered on the coast of Britain.
A gigantic skull of a deadly Pliosaur was discovered on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset.
It was an ultimate killing machine, measuring 10-12m long and equipped with four powerful flipper-like limbs to propel itself at fast speeds.
It was the ocean’s top predator 150 million years ago.
On New Year’s Day, the skull will take the stage in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One.
Dr Andre Rowe, from Bristol University, said:”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. “I have no doubt that this was sort of like an underwater T Rex.”
Local palaeontologist Steve Etches said: “It’s one of the best fossils I’ve ever worked on. What makes it unique is it’s complete. “The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there’s hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail.
“And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it’s slightly distorted – it’s got every bone present.
“The skull is longer than most humans are tall, which gives you a sense of how big the creature must have been overall. You can’t help but focus on its 130 teeth, especially those at the front. Long and razor sharp, they could kill with a single bite.”
Meals would have included other reptiles like its long-necked cousin, the plesiosaur, and the dolphin-like ichthyosaur – and fossil evidence suggests that it would have also eaten other passing pliosaurs.
During a trip along a beach at Kimmeridge Bay, Steve Etches’ friend and fellow fossil enthusiast Phil Jacobs came across the tip of the pliosaur’s nose lying in the shingle.