There Be Monsters

The Kraken the supposedly mythical sea monster that preyed on ships in the Atlantic since the 12th Century was not the only monster in the North Seas off Norway.

Of course these monsters pre-date humans.

And we have global warming to thank for this find. As the Arctic melts to reveal more of its ancient past. Soon we too will go the way of the dinosaurs if this continues.

Monster' fossil find in Arctic

By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News

One find has been nicknamed "The Monster" Enlarge Image

Norwegian scientists have discovered a "treasure trove" of fossils belonging to giant sea reptiles that roamed the seas at the time of the dinosaurs.

The 150 million-year-old fossils were uncovered on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard - about halfway between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole.

The finds belong to two groups of extinct marine reptiles - the plesiosaurs and the ichthyosaurs.

One skeleton has been nicknamed The Monster because of its enormous size.

The discovery of a gigantic pliosaur, nicknamed The Monster, was one of the most remarkable discoveries of the expedition.

Its skeleton has dinner-plate-sized neck vertebrae, and the lower jaw has teeth as big as bananas.

The skeleton is not yet fully excavated, but its skull is about 3m long, suggesting the body could be more than 8m from the tip of its nose to its tail.

"What's amazing here is that it looks like we have a complete skeleton. No other complete pliosaur skeletons are known anywhere in the world," said Dr Hurum.

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Arctic

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Monsters


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