Fossil of 'ultimate predator' unearthed in Arctic

Fossil of

www.newscientist.com

Fossil remains of a huge and fearsome marine predator, dubbed "Predator X", have been discovered in Svalbard, a remote Norwegian Arctic archipelago.

About 15 metres long and weighing 45 tonnes, the creature is a new species of pliosaur, and ruled the Jurassic seas some 147 million years ago.

"Its anatomy, physiology and hunting strategy all point to it being the ultimate predator – the most dangerous creature to patrol the Earth's oceans," according to the museum.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 3/18/2009 by bigvig316]

There is so much still not known about this planet's animals history. I want to know what this thing looks like when it is finally put together. Why is it though in the Arctic? I wonder if it was warm there at one point. The question surround this find are profound. It says it from a class of dino that is about 147 million years old.

the stats on teeth are surprising and chilling at the same time

Predator X had a head twice the size of Tyrannosaurus rex and its bite had four times the force, at around 15,000 kilograms (33,000 pounds). Its teeth were each around 30 centimetres (1 foot) long.

I like to see what it was killing to need teeth that big.

www.newscientist.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Ongoing discussion on this already

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by bigvig316
I like to see what it was killing to need teeth that big.

My thought exactly.... maybe the stories of the Kraken are more than just myths and fables.

After all we've had huge creatures get caught up in trawlers and wash up upon beaches. The under-ocean fascinates me.

Good find OP

Wow cool. That thing weighs more then my school!

Its funny they find an actual fossil of this now, and its an amazing discovery.
Because in those BBC series walking with monsters and walking with dinosaurs, they were made years ago, they had already known about this creature and reconstructed it in animations.