The finding of a plesiosaur skeleton dating back 100 million years “may hold the key” to prehistoric science.
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Researchers have welcomed the finding of a massive marine reptile’s skeleton in Australia 100 million years old as a significant discovery that might provide important information about prehistoric life.
In August, three amateur palaeontologists discovered the bones of a 6-meter (19-foot) tall juvenile long-necked plesiosaur, commonly known as an elasmosaur on a cattle ranch in western Queensland outback.
Espen Knutsen, the senior curator of palaeontology at the Queensland Museum, compared the find to the 1799 rediscovery of the Rosetta Stone. This ancient Egyptian granite block assisted researchers in deciphering hieroglyphics.
In a statement Wednesday that confirmed the discovery, Knutsen said, “We have never found a body and a head together and this could hold the key to future research in this field.” He added that it might help palaeontologists better understand the origins, evolution, and ecology of the cretaceous period in the area.
It is quite difficult to discover a fossil that preserves both the head and the body together since these plesiosaurs had two-thirds neck, the author explained.
The find was found by the “Rock Chicks,” a group of amateur palaeontologists made up of Cassandra Prince, Cynthia, and Sally, a fellow fossil hunter who only goes by her first name.
Finding of a plesiosaur skeleton
Around 150 million years ago, the Eromanga Sea, which had waters that were 50 metres deep, covered a major portion of rural Australia and was home to elasmosaurs, which grew to a length of 8 to 10 metres.
As an elasmosaur died, according to Knutsen, its rotting body would expand with gas and rise to the water’s surface. Additionally, the head would frequently break off when predators scavenged the cadaver, making full-body finds uncommon.
He continued by saying that the most recent discovery, a juvenile specimen, will clarify how the body structure of elasmosaur altered from infancy to adulthood.
We’re going to look at the chemistry of its teeth, and that may tell us a lot about its ecology in terms of habitat, whether it was travelling throughout its life or whether it was sort of sticking in the same environment, as well as its food, he added.
Plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, two extinct sea reptiles that lived in the same time period as dinosaurs, are not considered to be dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs descended from land-dwelling predecessors who were forced to sometimes rise for breath since they lacked gills. How long they could submerge is still a mystery.
It’s the most significant prehistoric find that has recently been found in Australia.
The biggest dinosaur in the nation was identified as the fossilised skeleton found in Queensland 2007 in June of last year, according to specialists. The dinosaur, known as “Cooper,” was the length of a basketball court and stood roughly two floors tall.
Two months later, researchers learned that 105 million years ago, a species of flying “dragon” flew across Australia. Researchers referred to the pterosaur as a “fearsome beast” that dined on young dinosaurs.
