The skull of a colossal sea…monster has been recovered from the cliffs of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. It belongs to a pleiosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorized the oceans about 150 million years ago.

The 2-meter-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its species ever discovered and gives new information about this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a David Attenborough special on BBC One in the New Year.

Pleiosaurs were giant marine reptiles that dominated the ocean depths. They swim with the help of huge fins – they have two on the front of their body and two on the back, which gives them great acceleration when attacking their victims. Their elongated head had jaws with teeth that could crush bones with ease, far greater than even that of the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“Wow!”, some are heard saying as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time. It is immediately apparent that this pleiosaur is huge and beautifully preserved.

“There is nowhere else a specimen that can compare with it,” believes paleontologist Steve Etches. “It is one of the best fossils I have ever worked with“, he tells BBC News.

“The lower jaw and upper skull are joined together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there are almost no specimens found at this level of detail. And if they are found, many pieces are missing, while this one, though slightly deformed, has all the bones».

Pleiosaurus

The skull is longer than most people are tall. One cannot but focus attention, as experts say, on his 130 teeth, especially those in the front. Long and razor sharp, they could kill with one bite. The back of each tooth is marked with fine ridges. These would help the beast to pierce the flesh and then quickly bring out its dagger-like fangs, ready for a quick second attack.

Pleiosaurus

“The sea reptile would have been so massive that I think it could have effectively preyed on anything that had the misfortune of being in front of it.” says Dr Andre Rowe from the University of Bristol. He adds: “I have no doubt that it was something like an underwater T. Rex».

*Photo source BBC News