In England, scientists managed to remove a giant skull of a pliosaurus from a rock. PHOTO
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In the English county of Dorset, they pulled out a giant skull of a sea “monster” from the rocks of the so-called Jurassic coast.
It belongs to a pliosaurus that inhabited the ocean about 150 million years ago, the BBC reports.
The 2-meter-long fossil is the skull of “one of the largest predators the world has ever seen.”
The skull was “embedded” about 15 meters from the collapsing rock and 11 meters from the ground – it was very difficult to remove it.
Pliosaur discovery: Huge sea monster emerges from Dorset cliffs
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 10, 2023
For the first time, the remains of this pliosaur were seen by fossil enthusiast Phil Jacobs. The tip of the predator’s muzzle lay in the pebbles on the coast.
Together with paleontologist Steve Etches, they made a makeshift stretcher to carry the fossil fragment to safety.
A drone survey of the high cliff helped to establish the probable location of other remains, but to remove them from the height, the team of scientists had to organize a difficult mission. To get the skull, a team of scientists had to dig while hanging on ropes.
Earlier this year, researchers constructed a box on which the remains of a prehistoric reptile were lowered to the ground. It was “a huge engineering challenge,” writes The Guardian.
Paleobiologist Emily Rayfield has already studied the large round holes on the back of the pliosaurus. It turned out that his mouth crushed the prey with a force of 33 thousand newtons.
Read also: Why are children so fond of dinosaurs and what is the benefit of this? We explain
The pliosaurus skull will be featured in a special program by naturalist David Attenborough on BBC One on New Year’s Eve. David will tell all the details of the complex operation to move the find from the rock.
Attenborough notes that the rock was once silt on the sea floor, in which the remains of prehistoric sea creatures were buried:
“Over millions of years, the continents have shifted, the seas have receded, and today, when these rocks are eroded, fossilized skeletons come to the surface.” – says the researcher and TV presenter.
And next year paleontologist Steve Etches will put the skull on display at his museum in Kimmeridge called the Etches Collection.
Read also: How dinosaurs could affect the lifespan of people – research
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