Pictures: Largest "Sea Monster" Skull Revealed?

Sea Monster Battle

Illustration by Raul Martin, National Geographic

To aid in capturing prey, some pliosaurs (such as the one attacking a smaller plesiosaur in this illustration) evolved features such as supersize eyes, fearsome teeth, or extremely long necks, according to National Geographic magazine.

As for the Dorset specimen, further research—including CT scans—may show whether the 52-foot-long (16-meter-long) beast is a new species. (See picture: "New 'Sea Monster' Species Identified.")

Yet Sues noted that "the classification of late Jurassic pliosaurs is still a mess, and, in absence of a reliable, published, modern review of all European specimens, it is hard to sustain any claim of a new species."

Published July 12, 2011

Jaw-Dropping Fossil

Photograph by Chris Ison, Press Assocation/AP

Paleontologist Richard Forrest measures the jaw bone of the Dorset pliosaur in 2009, when the find was first announced.

Sheehan, the fossil collector, gathered the pieces as they were washed out of a landslide on the coast of Weymouth Bay (map)—the largest segment being more than 176 pounds (80 kilograms). Three pieces were later found by two other collectors, making the skull more than 95 percent complete, according to the museum.

"It is an amazing achievement to have recovered this fossil from an eroding cliff over such a long period of time and without losing any important pieces," Richard Edmonds, earth science manager for the Jurassic Coast Team, said in a statement. The team is a group of county officials who work to preserve the heritage area.

(Read more about sea monsters.)

Published July 12, 2011

Toothy Beast

Image courtesy Jurassic Coast Team, Dorset County Council

The new Dorset County Museum exhibit includes a life-size model of the pliosaur head to show what the animal would have looked like. A digital model of the Dorset pliosaur was also created using data from a high-energy, microfocus CT scanner.

Scientists from several universities are teaming up for further research, such as searching for fossil plankton that may have been preserved in mud surrounding the fossil pieces.

(Related: "'Sea Monster' Bones Reveal Ancient Shark Feeding Frenzy.")

Published July 12, 2011

Mexican Pliosaur

Photograph by Thomas Kienzle, AP

German paleontologists Eberhard Frey (left) and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck hold a spinal fragment from a pliosaur known as Liopleurodon ferox in the Natural History Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2003.

The team found the 120-million-year-old specimen—with a head the size of a car—in Mexico in 2002.

(Also see "Giant Sea Reptiles Were Warm-Blooded?")

Published July 12, 2011

Arctic Sea Monster

Photograph from NHM/University of Oslo via Reuters

The fossil skull of a 50-foot-long (15-meter-long) pliosaur was found in Norway in 2008. The massive prehistoric sea reptile was longer than a humpback whale and had teeth the size of cucumbers, scientists say.

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

Published July 12, 2011