'Ginormous' Bones Found By Chance In Museum Archives Turn Out To Belong To A Jurassic Sea Monster

In an astonishing discovery, the forgotten bones of an enormous creature from the Jurassic era have been unearthed in the depths of a museum's archives. These remarkable fossils are believed to belong to a colossal sea monster.

Image: CNN

Hidden in fossil drawers and storage, the bones are from a pliosaur—a type of ancient sea creature. Surprisingly, these findings suggest that this creature could grow even bigger than what scientists originally believed.

During the exploration of fossil drawers at Abingdon County Hall Museum in the United Kingdom, paleobiology professor David Martill made an exciting discovery—a substantial vertebrae.

To his astonishment, further investigation revealed that the museum had three additional vertebrae in storage. It was at that moment that Martill realized he had stumbled upon fossilized remains of a pliosaur, an extraordinary Jurassic "sea monster."

“Dave opened the drawer and there was a huge backbone in it – it was dinner-plate sized,” PhD student Megan Jacobs, who was photographing an ichthyosaur skeleton while Martill looked through the fossil drawers, explained to the BBC.

“We got it out had a look and concluded it wasn’t a dinosaur but a huge marine reptile.”

Megan Jacobs

Upon their examination, Martill and Jacobs swiftly recognized the vertebrae as belonging to a pliosaur. Remarkably, the museum staff were unaware of the extraordinary presence hiding in their archives. 

Not only did these bones prove to be from pliosaurs, but their size was truly exceptional. In fact, this astonishing find indicates that pliosaurs were capable of attaining far greater sizes than previously believed by the scientific community.

“They had no idea that these were ginormous bones for this type of animal,” Jacobs said.

According to a report by Live Science, Martill conducted scans on the discovered vertebrae and concluded that the unidentified pliosaur species had a length ranging from 32 to 47 feet.

A model of a pliosaur from the Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond, Queensland, Australia. Ian Sutton/Flickr

This astonishing measurement establishes it as the largest known pliosaur ever found, surpassing the second largest species, Kronosaurus queenslandicus, which measured between 33 to 36 feet in length.

Around 150 million years ago, the ancient seas were dominated by terrifying pliosaurs. These formidable creatures could reach sizes twice as large as orcas and possessed remarkable characteristics, according to Jacob,  “a mouth full of enormous banana-sized teeth… you wouldn’t have wanted to go swimming in the late Jurassic seas.”

Pliosaurs undeniably held a prominent position as one of the most formidable predators of their time. With their crocodile-like large heads, compact necks, short tails, and four powerful flippers, these sea creatures were adept at navigating the waters and propelling themselves with remarkable agility.

“We know these pliosaurs were very fearsome animals swimming in the seas that covered Oxfordshire 145 – 152 million years ago,” Martill explained in a statement.

Teeth and lower jaw of a Kronosaurus, Queensland's largest fossil predator, at the Queensland Museum. ABC Radio Brisbane: Jacob Roebuck

“They had a massive skull with huge protruding teeth like daggers as big, if not bigger than a T. rex, and certainly more powerful.”

Martill added: “They were at the top of the marine food chain and probably preyed on ichthyosaurs, long-necked plesiosaurs and maybe even smaller marine crocodiles, simply by biting them in half and taking chunks off them.”

“We know they were massacring smaller marine reptiles because you can see bite marks in ichthyosaur bones in examples on display in The Etches Collection in Dorset.”

The vertebrae Martill encountered in the fossil drawers at Abingdon County Hall Museum were initially unearthed at Warren Farm in the River Thames Valley, Oxfordshire.

These fossils originate from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, a geological deposit dating back approximately 152 million years to the Late Jurassic period.

“It’s wonderful to prove there was indeed a truly gigantic pliosaur species in the Late Jurassic seas,” he said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if one day we find some clear evidence that this monstrous species was even bigger.”

With ongoing research and analysis, scientists hope to uncover more details about these colossal creatures and gain valuable insights into the diverse marine ecosystems that existed millions of years ago.