An entire pliosaur discovered in Svalbard
By Pascal Boisson, 10/16/2006
An intact specimen of the ''tyrannosaurus of the sea'', a 150 million year-old pliosaur, was discovered last summer in Spitsbergen in the area of Diabasodden, by a team of paleontologists from the University of Oslo led by professors Jørn Hurum and Hans Arne Nakrem.
Until now, only fragments of this predator have been found in England, Russia and Argentina. Nicknamed ''The Monster'' by the team which discovered it, this specimen measures approximately 8 to 9 meters length and was to weigh between 10 and 15 tons.
The pliosaurs (or short-necked plesiosaurs) were aquatic, carnivorous mesozoic reptiles, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
"Imagine A prehistoric reptile as long as a bus, with teeth larger than cucumbers, in a head that could swallow an adult human whole.'' declared Jørn Hurum. The skull is 2,10 meters long and the vertebrae extend on approximately 6 meters. According to J. Hurum, ''the conditions of conservation in black slate on this site are perfect. Only some vertebrae and the snout had fallen a short way down''.
As Spitsbergen is covered with snow from september to june, a great part of the skeleton awaits further excavation in 2007. This expedition also discovered 27 other skeletons, 21 long-neck plesiosaurs and 6 ichthyosaures. This dicovery ranks Svalbard as one of the most productive sites for marine reptiles in the world. The area is located at Diabasodden, in the Sassenfjorden fjord.
Source : Aftenposten, University of Oslo.
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