Fossils are being discovered in parts of the world recently. However, a bus-sized fossil of a Pliosaur creature that lived in the “Age of Dinosaurs” was discovered last autumn of 2002 by Gleb N. Uspensky at the bank of the Volga River near the city of Ulyanovsk, Russia.
According to Mail Online, the fossil of the unearthed creature has it’s the size of its head alone to be 1.5 meters, which is nearly five feet long. The fossil is now identified under the name of Luskhan itilensis, meaning “Master Spirit from the Volga.” The creature was then deemed to belong to the Pliosaurs class under the plesiosaur family.
With that said, the fossil’s beak or rostrum were identified to change the views of scientists about Pliosaurs. "This is the most striking feature, as it suggests that pliosaurs colonized a much wider range of ecological niches than previously assumed," Valentin Fischer, a lecturer at the Université de Liège and lead author of the study stated. The reports about the fossil were published in the journal Current Biology.
Aside from that the fossil of the Pliosaur creature was said to have its rostrum resembling that of dolphins. The creature’s 2-meter long skull size, enormous teeth and extremely powerful jaws were also mentioned to acquire its right to be one of the top dangerous predators of oceans back then in the dinosaur ages as noted by Science Daily.
Moreover, the Pliosaur fossil was said to have its family to live over 135 million years. However, creatures that belong to that family began extinction 145 million years ago. In which, is said to be more early than that of the extinction of the dinosaurs that occurred 66 million years ago.
“The new results suggest that pliosaurs were able to bounce back after the latest Jurassic extinction, but then faced another extinction that would - this time - wipe them off the depths of ancient oceans, forever,” Fischer concluded. Plesiosaur marine reptiles were also defined to be one of the longest-lived and diverse classes of aquatic tetrapods.
