New Delhi:
Have you ever heard of a sea monster that fed on crocodiles? The remains of an ancient sea monster that measured up to 30 feet long have been unearthed in Poland. The bones belong to a creature called a pliosaur and was found in the village of Krzyzanowice, dating the creature back to 150 million years ago.
According to the archaeologists, the enormous Jurassic sea predator would have terrorised the seas in ancient times. It would have roamed the seas of Europe and South America. The archaeologists explained that the sea monster was crocodile-like, with large heads and huge toothed jaws that would swim and hunt for fish, turtles and even large crocodiles.
It is to be noted that at the time – in the late Jurassic period – Poland's southern region was an archipelago of tropical islands. Also, it would have had warm lagoons and shallow sea reservoirs. "They measured over 10 metres in length and could weigh up to several dozen tons," said palaeontologist Dr Daniel Tyborowski, of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
"They had powerful, large skulls and massive jaws with large, sharp teeth. Their limbs were in the form of fins. We found bones of these pliosaurs in the north of the Swietokrzyskie Mountains," he added.
As mentioned above, Palaeontologists unearthed the predator's remains in the village of Krzyzanowice. They uncovered the creature alongside several other animal species including plesiosaurs, a long-necked cousin of the pliosaur, as well as turtles, and the distant ancestors of modern-day crocodiles from the same era.
Researchers believe that this accumulation of Jurassic fossils is unique in the world. Dr Daniel said, "This environment was home to the marine reptiles we discovered. Sea turtles ate large snails, while they themselves fell prey to large crocodiles. We know this because we found teeth marks left by those reptiles on turtle shells.”
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“On the other hand, powerful pliosaurs hunted all animals whose fossils we discovered at this site. Researchers will continue investigating the site in the hope of finding even bigger or more complete creatures. We hope that the next months and years will bring ever richer material in the form of bones of large reptiles," he concluded.
