Marine Monster Excavated

An enormous prehistoric sea creature, longer than a humpback whale and with teeth the size of bananas, has recently been excavated. It was first discovered in 2006 on the remote Arctic island Spitsbergen, a polar morgue of fossilized sea creatures.

"It's as big or bigger than the largest plesiosaur ever found," said Jørn Hurum, leader of the excavation team. "This absolutely looks like a new species," he added.

This predator measured ~15 meters, and represents one of the largest marine reptiles ever known. Its skull alone is estimated to be 3 meters long. Due to its short neck and large head, Monster is thought to actually belong to the pliosaur family, the top marine predators during the Jurassic period (200-145 million years ago).

The Svalbard archipelago is now the world's source for seeds (see Frozen Seeds entry) and skeletons... quite the contrast.