''T. Rex of the Ocean'' Found in Arctic

Sea Monster Found; Among Largest Marine Reptiles (Pictures)
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A 150-million-year-old pliosaur with teeth the size of cucumbers, was excavated by fossil hunters last year among the desolate mountains of Spitsbergen, part of Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

The recently discovered fossil site is described as a graveyard of dinosaur-era marine reptiles, including dolphin-shaped ichthyosaurs and previously unknown forms of long-necked plesiosaurs.

(See related pictures: "'Sea Monster' Graveyard Found in the Arctic".)

Some 40 skeletons have been located at the site as of February 27, 2008, when the new "sea monster" was announced.

A second pliosaur fossil was also located in the barren landscape in the summer of 2007. The team plans to excavate the newfound skeleton during a return visit later in 2008.

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—Photograph by Natural History Museum/University of Oslo/Norway
 

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