The fossil of an ancient marine reptile that lived during the Cretaceous Period about 70 million years ago was discovered in Alaska. It was found along the side of a 60-foot cliff, according to Live Science. The marine reptile was an elasmosaur, a type of plesiosaur that had a really long neck and four paddle-like limbs. Patrick Druckenmiller, Earth Sciences curator for the Museum of the North, said the fossil was an "exciting find because it is the first time an elasmosaur has ever been discovered in Alaska," according to University of Alaska - Fairbanks.
The fossil was discovered by Curvin Metzler, a fossil collector from Anchorage, who saw the bones on the side of a cliff while he was hiking on the Talkeetna Mountains. Metzler, who usually collected invertebrate fossils, saw a bone sticking out and thought it may be worth looking into. He informed Druckenmiller, and they, along with two others, went to see the fossil in June.
"I didn't want to disturb anything in the cliff so it was exciting to talk to Pat. We are lucky to have someone in the state who works with fossils," Metzler said, according to the University of Alaska.
Druckenmiller immediately recognized a vertebra that belonged at the base of the elasmosaur's neck.
"Based on the size of the bones we excavated, the animal should be at least 25 feet long," he said.
The museum curator referred to elasmosaurs as an "unusual group of marine reptiles," adding that they are especially famous "because they have these ridiculously long necks and relatively small skulls," Live Science reported.
The elasmosaur's long neck became the basis for an old theory saying the mysterious Loch Ness monster was actually an elasmosaur. However, Druckenmiller calls any association of the elasmosaur with the mythical creature Nessie a "bunch of bunk." He explained that an elasmosaur was not able to hold its head up above the water, as Nessie is typically depicted in many photographs.
When asked about the elasmosaur's incredibly long neck, which makes up about half of the carnivore's body size, the museum curator pointed out a few theories for its purpose. Druckenmiller said though the neck was important for feeding, there may be other uses for it.
"One idea I like, actually, is that sometimes animals have very strange anatomy because they use them for sexual selection, in other words showing off to potential mates, and species recognition. So that's also a possibility," he told Alaska Public Media.
A large part of the elasmosaur's fossil remains hidden on the side of the mountain. Druckenmiller and his team will try to get it out completely next summer. He gives credit to Metzler for informing the museum about the archaeological find.
"My hat's off to somebody who does what I would say is the right thing in this situation and reports significant finds like that to the museum so we can study it and share it with the rest of the world," he said.
