Scientists have unearthed a specimen of a savage marine reptile that prowled Cretaceous seas, that has long-necked and a croc jawed, and is believed as a plesiosaur.
When it was alive and a hunter in monster-infested seas, it would swing its snaky neck and jaw in sea-covered Wyoming, catching its prey.
Ancient Marine Reptile Discovered
Paleontologists unearthed fossils of this serpentine sea monster in 1995 during one dig in the uppermost section of the Pierre Shale, a geological structure from the Upper Cretaceous period dated from 101 million to 66 million years ago, reported Live Science.
Scientists found this species of a plesiosaur was not like its other species from the same period, though it had different looks from the more well-known members of this type of long-gone aquatic monster.
The research of the authors involved revealed their findings in a study published online on September 26 by the iScience journal.
They concluded that this animal was an exception to the extinct plesiosaurs that made it a standout.
Experts Distinguish Rare Marine Reptile
This creature was described by Walter Scott Persons IV, a paleontologist at the College of Charleston in South Carolina and the study's lead author.
These savage marine reptiles are distinguished by their distinct appearances with long-necked and croc-jawed, which are classified into two types and characterize the majority of them, except for the snaky face.
One type is the well-known elongated neck with a smaller head and the other type with the shorter neck but longer crocodilian jaws.
According to Persons, it was an odd crossing of both types which is called Serpentisuchops pfisterae or Snaky face.
The Serpentisuchops as he called it, and having a snaky face, is estimated to be 23-feet-long and its skeleton is exhibited at Glenrock Paleontological Museum near Casper, Wyoming. Its fossil was discovered more than 25 years back.
Persons added that it has been several decades since the specimen has been studied in detail. This fossilized skeleton represents about 35% of its entire body with some missing parts with the preserved lower jaw, many skull bits, a complete neck, backbones, and finally its tail bones and ribs, make it amazing, citing Verve Times.
If it was not for missing bits of the limbs and paddles, it would be almost whole.
This fossil was discovered embedded in a shale-rich site.A bonus was that there were still 19 teeth connected in the jaw, and the rest was all over the remnants, which was compared to the moon or Mordor.
He added that the existence of roots in the jaw validated that the teeth belonged to this particular plesiosaur and not another one.
Based on his observations, this animal wouldn't have been capable of biting through thick bones since all of the conical teeth are smooth and not serrated with a bleeding edge. This type of tooth was developed to be good at stabbing and eviscerating its food, such as fish. Such teeth were designed to take out easy prey such as fish or abundant cephalopods or invertebrates.
The discovery of this hybrid of two plesiosaur types, with traits from two distinct species, resulted from millions of years of evolutionary adaptation. Millions of years ago, it discovered another way to exist in its own niche.
Rediscovery of this savage marine reptile Serpentisuchops pfisterae or Snaky face, that was long-necked and croc-jawed that is like a combination of the two types of this extinct plesiosaur.
