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Fossilised pliosaur skull discovered on the British Jurassic Coast

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

Fossilised pliosaur skull discovered on the British Jurassic Coast

The enormous fossilised skull of a pliosaur has been discovered by a local fossil-collector along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset in the UK.

The pliosaur, which was a massive reptile that lived 150 million years ago, has been referred to as a “sea monster” by the press.

Dorset County Council has bought the skull, which is 2.4m long, and is thought to be one of the largest of its kind ever found.

Pliosaurs were a type of plesiosaur, a form of gigantic marine reptile that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

The Jurassic Coast covers some 150km (95 mile) stretch of coastline stretching between Dorset and East Devon and spanning 185 million years of past history.

The exact location of where the pliosaur skull was discovered is not being made public.

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