Colossal sea monster unearthed in UK - BBC News

The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, UK.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago.
The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator.
The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
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For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news
#Palaeontology #SeaCreatures #BBCNews

[@abdiver12]

My God, I'm a fisherman in California and I've just realized that I sold a huge squid beak to Steve Etches several years ago! He contacted me one day through my online ad saying he wanted one for his museum. I had totally forgotten his name until I saw this report. So honored to have one of my specimens on display in his collection to be viewed by (hopefully) many generations to come.

[@Summersimmie]

That is so cool! Well-done, good sir!

[@doctorpsylus]

Saw one in a documentary jesus that thing is lethal its a perfect killing machine & this was a Juvenile washed up in mexico around 44 feet , the adults tentacles would be around 120 feet :o

[@staygold2563]

Go back to feeding raccoons liar

[@doomjuice.1652]

Everything is bs apparently

[@TheEtchesCollection]

That beak sits proudly in the reserve collection here and is amazing reference material for comparing to the ancient squid like animals we find here!

[@Tboe905]

Thats looks like what a "Dragon"skull would look like. Thats awesome

[@TheRandompaint]

It's probably skulls like this that created the myth in the first place

[@FlyVader]

Yoooo,, Skyrim: Elder scrolls 😂😂😂😂

[@ericmaumaryjr8344]

It is a dragon.. dinosaur wasn't a word until the mid 19th century... Dragons lived with humans.. every culture around the world tells us. Myth is a word used by pretentious darwinian evolutionists

[@melanie71]

Exactly 🤔

[@springbok4015]

Now you know where the idea for dragons came from

[@MeezMiah]

David Attenborough is one of the few people on the planet that can show up instantly to anything and always be welcomed by everyone

[@DaUnicorn]

& Betty White. God Rest Her Soul

[@lotsofhairbutnomoney3705]

I wonder how a pliosaur would react seeing our Sir swimming in the open water...

[@thetwitchywitchy]

Please keep David Attenborough safe, he’s a treasure

[@user-yk4lm1tz8p]

Hello

[@ignis4026]

It's both amazing and terrifying to think about the creatures that once roamed our land, sea, and sky. The idea still gives me shivers.

[@OReily08080]

Today's bird are scary enough, but imagine having Quetzalcoatlus

[@JordanWheeler1999]

@@OReily08080 birds to me aren't dino related lizards are. if a bird really is related to dino creatures then it will look like an Pterodactyls but isn't.

[@Fantallana]

@@JordanWheeler1999birds are literally dinosaurs. Scientifically. They are direct decadents of ancient dinosaurs. Lizards, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, and plesiosaurs are separate lineages from each other. But of course they share a common ancestor if you go back far enough, as all animals do.

[@OReily08080]

@@JordanWheeler1999 Pterodactyls, that was the name I was looking for

[@difinical6327]

im sure if they did still exist the government would kill them off or lock them up cause those things are actual real life monster shit

[@robwalsh9843]

Pliosaurs were simply some of the most terrifying animals to ever live. Real sea dragons. Encountering one in open water must have been an experience equal parts terrifying, majestic......and final.

[@ItsJustKaya]

Gyrados but everyone swims like those mf dont exist. Fending themself with their luvdisc

[@dochudson9393]

​​@@ItsJustKayaNuts that these things evolve from little Magikarps

[@rollinsomethingbutiforgot]

Looks like a dinosaur to me

[@SpinosaurusTheProudSocialist]

​​​@@rollinsomethingbutiforgotActually Pliosaurs were much more closely related to turtles. Dinosaurs have a different evolutionary lineage, modern birds being the only living members of said lineage, and crocodiles being their closest living relatives, followed be turtles. So they were related to Dinosaurs but very distantly so. Probably about as distantly related as a human is to a lemur let's say.

[@dochudson9393]

@@SpinosaurusTheProudSocialist Actually, Pliosaurs are very closely related to Dinosaurs in that they both now rest ... in ... peace

[@user-nu4kq4cu6n]

I am in awe of this find. Having spent a few hours wandering along beaches on the Jurassic Coast I can imagine how excited the man who discovered this must have been. Fantastic find and a beautiful specimen.

[@livingmybestlife5634]

I ❤ David Attenborough Documentaries!!!! Hes One of the BEST Documentary narrators of our time imo !! Thank You David Attenborough!!! 🌍🐳🐟🦑🪼🦋

[@Tigerfan50]

Wonderful to see Sir David Attenborough still active! Bless you!

[@lise1255]

97 yo and still rocking the boat literally.

[@robertgreen5217]

A globalist bumhole

[@raoulduke7668]

buzz word without any meaning@@robertgreen5217

[@mikkolukas]

he's a dinos ... oh, I'll see myself out 😆

[@horatio59]

a globalist pushing dodgy agendas

[@lise1255]

Beside the big fossil, let's not forget to admire the smaller one, the amazing 97 year old Sir David, still standing tall, rocking the boat telling us about it😮!.

[@vandolmatzis8146]

🤣🤣

[@fantasip]

😅 🎯👌

[@johnrice4191]

Blokes a hypocrite.....fact...

[@user-ch6ti5cc2e]

rest in peace (for next year)

[@oliyes406]

A fossil telling us about his fallen comrades

[@GamesCooky]

Wow. That is quite a find right there. It's just astonishing how well preserved it is as well. Amazing.

[@richardlee5412]

Paleontologists dream find, I don't think this short story can adequately cover the magnitude of how incredible this discovery was and how serious Steve Etches is when he says he could spend the rest of his life with this fossil

[@tedcrilly46]

Romantically?

[@MrFas__]

​@@tedcrilly46🤦‍♂️😂

[@TheEtchesCollection]

Fortunately 'Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster' will tell more of the story! And if you want to learn even more it will be on display here in the New Year!

[@anothermouth7077]

That's always the tragedy isn't. The general public doesn't understand the magnitude unless Sir Attenborough explains it to us.

[@Vigilante80085]

seriously!

[@khrawkupar]

Glad to see Sir David Attenborough healthy and still contributing to the world of documentaries.. I was some how emotional seeing him in this video🙏

[@TheEtchesCollection]

He was so excitied by the find! We were so grateful he came and joined out team for this amazing experience.

[@Yinyankstank]

Gay

[@mrartdeco]

I hope he is secretly immortal so we can enjoy his commentary until we are old and dying

[@kenzog5428]

He's 97, Yet he was saying there are too many humans on earth and we need less population.

[@XperT650]

@@Yinyankstankweird place to come out, but congrats bro

[@AlilLazy]

Truly amazing and thank you for sharing this 🦕🦖🦕🦖🦕

[@GameOver1a]

If this was how terrifying life looked like millions of years ago on earth, Imagine whats out there in the universe in different shapes and forms. Absolutely fascinating

[@mandalorian1282]

Extremely unlikely.

[@Huevo_Religioso]

??

[@craaab____721]

we don't know that for sure, there could be other lifeforms out there, we just need to look. probably not in our lifetimes though, interstellar travel is a huge leap in space travel@@mandalorian1282

[@r.sakarollsafe1285]

still to this day, zero life have been discovered outside earth. Earth, was not born with atmosphere and wildlife on it's surface. It takes billion of years, the right combination of reaction and certainly luck to form Earth of what it is today. We may not be alone, but certainly with a billion light year radius, we are. Its like living in the dessert by yourself. You know there's people, but ultimately, you are truly alone. you can walk naked, visit neighboring canyon like that and still be alone. That is what earth is today. Just waiting for a child to be born from the other continent, to come and visit you someday, or the other way around.

[@r.sakarollsafe1285]

@@craaab____721 granted that humans do not destroy each other and most importantly the sphere we are standing on first. The way I see it, we be happy enough to advance in the next 100 years before nuclear world war erupted. It takes a great man to hold a great responsibility, and the holiest man to carry it through responsibly. Have you met such people on top of each country with that criteria?

[@mpista7182]

Early sailors may have found things like this and imagined sea monsters were still alive in the oceans. Thiis is amazing !!

[@thenewcamelot8873]

Plenty of monsters still down there

[@jonnynice8366]

That's cute, you think there are no sea monsters living in the oceans today.

[@trina-bd7qz]

@@jonnynice8366only 5% of the ocean has been discovered it’s creatures and fishes we have never seen before

[@jonnynice8366]

@@trina-bd7qz We probably know about most creatures that live in the oceans, but there are some rarely seen giants like the colossal squid that are at least as scary and impressive as pliosaurs were.

[@mpista7182]

I never wrote that. Have a cow already !lol@@jonnynice8366

[@wc8246]

Just saw this documentary yesterday it was brilliant, such an amazing find

[@hairglowingkyle4572]

Looks like a dragon skull. If people found this a long time ago, either washed ashore or dug up, you can't blame them for believing in terrifying mythical creatures

[@allthingslexi6046]

For a fossil preserved in the Earth for that long, it sure does look amazing !

[@LilRichNigga24]

Kinda unreal right 😉

[@Aiden-zl4ht]

I'm willing to bet it's not as old as they think it is.

[@nicholaswooten5579]

@@Aiden-zl4htwhy?

[@Aiden-zl4ht]

@@nicholaswooten5579 carbon dating has been determined faulty many times. You can Google it, if you wanna find out more! Interesting stuff.

[@johnford9070]

@@nicholaswooten5579cuz how tf does anybody know if earths 1508 million Gillion years old. Sounds like a made up number. No way to verify anything is that old. Probably like 15k years old

[@thorium222]

Wow, really amazing how well the skull is preserved! The teeth look amazing, I hope they find the whole fossilized pliosaur.

[@dougaltolan3017]

It lived before refined sugar...

[@christdiedforoursins1467]

​@@dougaltolan3017it never lived it's just a sculptors art , it's from a cast ,as you saw the rock on the beach that was" broken off "was not like the sculpture you saw the man unveil.

[@sweetwillow]

@@christdiedforoursins1467 nah check out what he says at 1:11 the piece found on the beach was just a piece of it, they found the rest in the rock 👍 I know, kinda unbelievable.

[@dannythegreat453]

Fake

[@dougaltolan3017]

@@christdiedforoursins1467 and the rock on the beach was what? Exactly?

[@ArtistJMAtelier]

This skull is more large than the largest theropod skulls like Giganotosaurus. Badass and amazing bro

[@bojnebojnebojne]

it is quite important to take note of every single finding of any species. Understanding any species history is a step closer to understand and unveil the mystery behind life itself and our place therein.

[@TaylorHarvey-hy1ph]

here we go bbc team link in bio 🎉🎉

[@CYBERSECURITY.101]

The Jurassic Coast is known for its rich fossil record, and this discovery is certainly significant

[@Unkn0wn1133]

I never would have guessed that, thanks

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

It's ok Ile put that container in the Greek fridge they can sort it out 😂

[@beanbag9696]

Captain obvious

[@gingerseanie]

It’s also known for being the most boring place on earth

[@CYBERSECURITY.101]

@@cheesyrichard Interesting.. What is his instagram?

[@dragonfarm2texas518]

Philip Jacobs should have gotten full credit for his find...

[@brokencigarette3017]

David Attenborough almost 100 and still doing his thing. The man is a legend.

[@onecookieboy]

And that is how legends of Dragons came to be. Imagine finding something like that hundreds of years ago, how else would it be explained?

[@marco3dartist]

Dragons as described by so many cultures could have very well existed. Especially if their bones were hollow like bird bones. This would make finding fossils exceedingly difficult.

[@onecookieboy]

@@marco3dartist Yeah, not really, there is plenty of evidence that very big pterosaur's existed, some were as big as a small aeroplane (Quetzalcoatlus, with a 10 meter wingspan and weighing up to 250Kg), but actual Dragon's, breathing fire etc seems a bit of a stretch. I can easily understand people discovering the fossilised remains of something like this creature and building some sort of narrative around what sort of creature it was. All they would have known is that it was very big, had lots of big teeth and perhaps they thought the flippers were wings, they would never have seen a fish even remotely like it so thought it must have come from the sky. So yes, Dragon.

[@ElonMasks]

And the people back then will just randomly say "And we'll call this one a Dragon"

[@DaveyJones-cj4xg]

Have a look at a mammoth skull if you want to see where the myth of the cyclops likely came from.

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

I sure as shit wouldn't be quick to assume it was extinct! 👀 Can't blame em.

[@andreasmartin7942]

Amazingly well preserved...

[@kallethoren]

"The exact location where the pliosaurs head was found is a closely guarded secret". Just by showing the footage of the coast, rainbolt could easily figure it out 😅

[@spencertwoeightyz3383]

im sure people have been finding fossils for thousands of years. it is not hard to imagine how people believed in sea monsters and dragons.

[@coweatsman]

The legend of the Cyclops is thought to have arisen from a mammoth skull, the nasal opening being mistaken for an eye socket.

[@Ranstone]

@@coweatsman But have you heard of the legend of Darth Plagueis the wise?

[@mr.constitution]

​@@Ranstonelol

[@joshfread1081]

@@Ranstone It's not one a Jedi would tell you

[@keepitsecret-dl1pr]

@@Ranstone > I thought not. No-one cares anyway. During these post war years he had lived in solitude and carefully planned ignorance of what was happening in the world. Nothing had importance, even the exquisitely isolated cosmos of his own consciousness. Then little-by-little he had had the impression that the light of meaning - the meaning of everything - was dying. Like a flame under a glass it had dwindled, flickered and gone out, and all existence, including his own hermetic structure from which he had observed existence, had become absurd and unreal. >Do you have £20 for a baguette?

[@snappercharters]

Was great to be a part of this project! Hosting Sir David Attenborough on our boat, Snapper Charters was a real career highlight!

[@centurymemes1208]

Impressive

[@kjamesjr]

Where was the fossil found?

[@lukejewell7370]

Location ?

[@AmusedPassport-ec1lv]

At least the taxi guy didn't chime in

[@RyansArachnids]

I love prehistoric creatures. They are fascinating

[@Yvanehtnioj2000]

It’s amazing how people stumble upon these remains. The eyes to find them must be pin point accurate. I wouldn’t have given them a second look in passing.

[@AnzuMiruku]

What a beautiful specimen. Our Earth is more fascinating than any fantasy novel. Sometimes I can’t believe the creatures we share this planet with, both now and in the distant past. I’m so lucky I’m here to be a part of all of it!

[@giantslayer473]

Well said. If we could see what remains are lying, preserved just beneath our feet, in the ocean floors.

[@stuartwray6175]

Lucky to be a part of it, but not prey to it.

[@EmeraldLavigne]

​@stuartwray6175 it's dead and I'm alive, so who won that one??? *SCOREBOARD!*

[@johncane2304]

Billion years of earth

[@uchihaaxel5214]

its not beautiful dude. if it was alive it would be massacring other sea creatures and even human

[@jaimeizreal8810]

Yes, that is an amazing piece of history and a magnificent animal indeed. But guys? Sir David Attenborough is 97 years old! And he's on a swaying boat that makes most YOUNG people seasick. It is Sir David Attenborough that is the true beast of nature here folks. Seriously.

[@lockester2799]

David Attenborough is a true beast of nature, that guy must be the peak human form

[@TheEtchesCollection]

He is amazing! He was so excited by this project and it was great to work with him!

[@Pluralofvinylisvinyls]

You won’t be thrown in a dungeon for failing to say “sir”, you know

[@jaimeizreal8810]

@@Pluralofvinylisvinyls I give max respect to someone whom earned max respect. That is my way of showing I respect him. How do you show your respect to people who have earned it? Tell us.

[@damientorres1066]

No one cares.

[@lesliepropheter5040]

So cool! Thank you so much

[@antisocialatheist1978]

This was a great documentary. Having David Attenborough do this was a great idea.

[@manofweed1]

This find shouldn't be underestimated. A very significant discovery.

[@nj1255]

That's insanely detailed and remarkably intact! I can't even imagine being the guy who found that initial part. Imagine just walking around on a beach one day and find a big ass rock with teeth the size of your hand!

[@nahbruv3621]

what's your threshold for bs it's a faux painted model no museum pieces are actual dinosaur bones. those are hidden away. this is why it's so suspect

[@PathfinderJAYDZ]

@@PallasAthenian yeah, i hate to be one of those conspiracy guys but 2 years in an art school tells me it looks like its made from clay

[@nj1255]

@@PallasAthenian It is? I don't have much knowledge about archeology and how fossils look when you find them so.

[@GR-dw9nm]

@@nj1255 It's a sculpted rendering based off the fossil. You would never bare handed touch a fossil like he did. It's a cast to show what the full skull would have looked like. You can see what the actual fossil looked like in the computer scan they showed.

[@aimliard2276]

​@@PallasAthenian😂 so f dumb it's a 3d part representation of what it was. It's almond impossible to get a fossil with that pristine quality

[@TreasureHuntingNana]

I had to look at the thumb nail a few times as I thought this was click bait..... what an amazing find

[@PutridElf]

It's so beautiful. Crazy to think that was swimming around.

[@alexc.c.4025]

At a T-Rex exhibition a few years ago I learned that many/most dinosaurs skeletons we know today have being assembled from just a few remains from each specimen but never from a complete one. The rest is a guess game comparing other bones to similar specimen. We had the opportunity to see the most intact T-Rex skeleton ever found so far named Trix. This particular one was found 2013 in Montana US by a Dutch team & it's almost 80% complete. T-Rex can only be found in 2 places Asia & north America. And as many suggest today dinosaurs may had fur and wings and not only scales or reptile skin. 😄

[@10mm_is_best_mm]

Very true. Additionally, soft tissue isn’t preserved in the fossil record. Skin, muscle structure and cartilage are as responsible for an animal’s shape as its skeleton. Even with a full skeleton it would be impossible to accurately determine how dinosaurs truly looked.

[@LoveMaskedBandits]

I saw SUE the T-Rex at the Field Museum in Chicago some years ago. Her skull weighs so much, it's in a separate enclosed case on the second floor. Check out the (very sad) truth of the team who found and excavated her in a documentary called Dinosaur 13.

[@roycairns9357]

Lots of people forget about the human skeleton and how it’s evolved over time - most of the evidence is just theoretical and very few human figures actually exist ( let’s say roughly 12,000 years ago ) In the 1800’s big rewards were offered to prove human evolution and lots of bones were mixed and matched for the rewards. It’s only recent analysis off the human fossils showed some skeletons mixed with baboon bones to make up the evidence. All the fossil evidence for human evolution would fit into a small lunchbox- Sorry I have to be careful how much more I say 😂

[@checktheskies5040]

Sasquatch?

[@E.C.Animation]

Dragons. Dragon is an ancient word with references to their kind across the world in many cultures. Dinosaur is a modern word for these random bones found with, like the op said, only a few to go by and the rest are guess work. Dragons were real.

[@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle]

Fantastic! As a child I was fascinated with dinosaurs and their cousins. This still brings me joy !

[@Maximiliano896]

Same here, this is so exciting to learn about and experience even after all these years.

[@MelonEsuk]

I have a little dinosaur cousin at home called Polly the parrot 🦜

[@alioramus1637]

​@@MelonEsukparrots are not cousins pf dinosaurs. They are maniraptoran dinosaurs.

[@drips1030]

What a find!!!

[@MidwestPlumber96]

Amazing how great of condition it's still in, wow.

[@bigchief939]

Holy cow they found nessy

[@lise1255]

My reaction too😂

[@CrashSomeMore]

Nessiesaurus.😀

[@bedjrocks5550]

It's dinosaur it's not cow🙄

[@tyrannosaur6265]

Seeing this giant so well preserved takes me back to the old history channel “documentaries” about dragons, how exciting the world of paleontology never disappoints.

[@MATT-AT]

🎉Such a Monumental Discovery🎉 i used to watch "Walking with Dinosaurs" as a kid & i can safely say that seeing one of the animals i once saw now on display is inspiring, sure it's not the whole body but the head is Untouched. Ive never seen any type of wreck or fossil look so new, something to be very proud of im sure.

[@ericaschannel2599]

Wow it’s terrifying I can’t even imagine seeing something like this today my brain and heart wanna tell me there is things like this in our deep dark oceans as someone who works on the ocean i often think and wonder if there’s something big and powerful below me while on the boat but wow this is just huge it’s simply incredible this thing would be able to demolish a boat and crew in seconds 😅

[@TNT-km2eg]

Ever heard of syntax ? Grammar ?

[@grafito4438]

It ain't collosial without David Attenborough - he really adds presence to it.

[@novavortex7763]

Amazing find of a complex and complete fossil complete fossils are so rare it's amazing this survived for so long

[@bigtuckballa]

This is how I imagined the Loch Ness monster

[@andrewbellavie795]

Spectacular discovery!

[@johno1544]

Amazingly well preserved for a skull that big. Most of the time they are crushed to pieces and some of the pieces are just gone

[@TheEtchesCollection]

It is amazing and we are very fortunate it was all together, ocean movements and scavaging often seperate the bones and as you said often they are crushed flat. There has been a little bit of crushing with this specimen but it's almost lifelike.

[@mpkid5]

thats not a real skull. thats a reproduction man made model. they dont have teeth like that you can obviously tell its not real bone or teeth

[@johno1544]

​@@mpkid5you dont know what you are talking about and apparently didnt watch the video. I personally own several aquatic reptile teeth including Mosasaurus and they absolutely can look like that

[@mpkid5]

@johno1544 that is not real teeth and not how the teeth of that dinosaur looks. Fossilized teeth do not look like that either. That is not a natural tooth shape, you can see the edges are carved into straight angles. Even their 3d image doesnt show that. Its sculpted for visual appeal. Its a sculpture based on a fossil but it is not accurate

[@johno1544]

@@mpkid5 kid you dont know what your talking about first off that's not a dinosaur but a aquatic reptile and if you dont know the difference I'm not wasting my time explaining anything else to you

[@SotonSam]

The amount of human and natural history in the UK is mind blowing ❤️🇬🇧

[@tobleramone]

It's a sea creature.

[@frankklein4872]

UK territorial water you leftie

[@jamesmaybrick2001]

@@tobleramone Obviously. Thats not what he said. Human AND natural history.

[@julianshepherd2038]

Sunak wants to deport it.

[@SotonSam]

@@jamesmaybrick2001 yeah thank you.

[@mr.s8442]

I wish dinosaurs still lived today. I always imaged that if you wanted to find a dinosaur or at least something remotely similar you’d have to go the Amazon Rainforest or the Congo Jungle.

[@kaijuar2003]

When sizing up pliosaurs, we use either the 1:3, 1:4, or 1:5 ratio when sizing up from just a skull. We don’t use 1:7 ratio given that it was oversizing the pliosaurs. The Walking with Dinosaurs Liopleurodon was sized up from a large pliosaur which was oversized to 25 meters when the pliosaur in general was about 10-11 meters. A recent study, though only a single neck vertebra, of a possible pliosaur was found and many estimate it to be 14.4 meters (assuming it has the same proportions as Liopleurodon). Although, it is debatable at best, but given that the vertebra is very similar to the vertebra of the genus Pliosaurus, it most lilely is a pliosaur. I've got to point out that sizing up from a single vertebra is different from sizing up from a skull. The largest pliosaur is Sachicasaurus, which we have a VERY NEARLY conplete skeleton, the animal was 10 meters and weighed 13.5 tons. However, it was NOT fully grown, so an adult may have been about 12 meters. If you size up this skull using the 1:5 ratio, it's large but not the largest.

[@siddiqgamesyt3354]

Top 10 lizards

[@skateboardscott]

That is truly incredible. What a find!

[@kevbee8325]

What a beautifully preserved fossilised specimen of a pliosaur skull.

[@_KeneYah]

Am i the only one that thought that the thumbnail was of a dirty Jordan shoe that was about to be restored 😂

[@geoffreydonaldson2984]

I live near Courtenay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. In the museum is the 95% complete skeleton cast of a hundred-foot-long elasmosaur. Its teeth were recovered but the first casting of the skull was incorrect-the teeth were in the wrong places. Thus it was donated to our friend Mike Trask whose 12 year-old daughter spotted the tip of the monster’s tail embedded in the shale beside a local river. It sits on his coffee table. It is awesome despite the incorrectly reassembled dentition. 4:34 Not only is it one of the most complete specimens of its kind ever found, it is also the first dinosaur ever discovered on the West Coast of Canada (most dinosaur finds are in Alberta, several hundred miles to the east on the other side of the Rocky Mountains). It’s a wonderful story how locals excavated the entire beast without authorities commandeering the project. Eventually provincial and federal governments contributed to converting the old Canada Post and Customs building into the Courtenay Museum where the elasmosaur and other more recent finds are displayed.

[@silverlve70]

That fossil is absolutely amazing!

[@liamtaylor849]

What a fantastic find! I really hope we get to see a full skeleton of this epic predator preserved in that cliff!

[@buffalorick5598]

Fabulous! Great work! Hope you’re successful in excavating the rest of this magnificent monster of the past. If you should ever read this, do you believe that McCleary, the late survivor of the Pensacola Florida sea monster tale, could have seen a living Plesiosaur as claimed those respected officers in their dive off African coast?

[@eXtremeFX2010]

Wow, England's Sea Monster from the ages before time, absolutely fascinating!

[@pip393]

The level of detail and completeness is astounding.

[@JohnfromCro7]

Because it's not 75 million years old. Its probably 5000 years old

[@zethloveless7238]

@@JohnfromCro7stop dreaming

[@StudioMod]

@@JohnfromCro7 I believe 150 millions years ago actually.

[@orbytl2799]

@@JohnfromCro7 it is kinda funny how civilisations a few thousand years old talk of dragons and such where did they get their inspiration from for such beasts that closely resemble these kind of creatures we are unearthing today? the first recorded dinosaur unearthing in history wasnt until the 17th century these ancient civilisations must have come across things in the earth beforehand, either that or they encountered such beasts 😁

[@TheBreathless24]

Please don't have a strong opinion over things you have no clue about... It's a huge sign of idiocy and you're only embarrassing yourself.@@JohnfromCro7

[@russkendrick8981]

I love this stuff! I contemplated Paleontology for a bit, but instead went for my masters in Biological Anthropology. I always geek out about these findings!!

[@emilerose1424]

You're still alive, so let the paleontologist in you live a bit. You don't need a master's degree--just drive and curiosity. Go for it!

[@nurlindafsihotang49]

Go nerd, runs wild and find our heritage of history!!!

[@ariesleorising9421]

Awesome! When I got my bachelor’s degree in psychology, I minored in anthropology. Such interesting stuff. Go live your dream, Russ!

[@themallard4802]

That might be the best way bbc could announce Izzo’s uk tour

[@user-gt2lh2ec9e]

Wow, glad I missed seeing that monster! John P.

[@wutangklan5084]

Sir David has one of the most majestic voices ever heard. Bless him.

[@ianjones7294]

It's interesting to think such amazing creatures once lived in the oceans and on the lands. The earth has a fascinating history. I must admit, I'm glad most of them are extinct though, ha ha. Also a fun fact: We live closer in time to the T-Rex than the T-Rex did to the Stegosaurus. Stegosaurus had already been extinct for 80 million years before the T-Rex appeared. Humans have only been around for 300,000 years!

[@timeless1922]

Cymru am byth!

[@dndkillaztreble5317]

Hi ian could you explain to me how carbon dating is accurate when theirs been multiple teams that have sent of bones to different labs and have had results from 3 thousand years and tens of millions from a different lab.

[@davidlittle7418]

Hmm yes & unless we get our shit together, the clock is definitely ticking on our stupid species.

[@garyk1334]

​@@dndkillaztreble5317Can you make sure no young earth creationists were involved

[@mdgcwood]

What the heck?

[@joeddiejoe77]

I envy countries that have specimens embed in their land. In the Philippines we don't have those treasures since Philippines is still under the ocean in those times and marine reptiles highly unlikely lives in the what now called pacific ocean because of the temperature. The only fossils we found here are the early version of the modern elephants called Stegodon and it's barely 5 million years old.

[@tasteewheat393]

I can't believe something like that roamed the seas... Scary to think there could be something lurking deep in it right now..

[@lyrand6408]

This reminds me a bit of that incredible Ankylosaur fossil that was basically perfectly preserved (pretty much the whole body, not just the head). And to think that fossilization in and of itself is already a very rare thing to start with, and then to have a fossil like this, is indeed incredible. I can't recall the statistic on this but fossilization is a process that occurs only something like 5% of the time any living animal dies, maybe less. Even if we were to unearth ALL the fossils from the crust of our planet today, it would only represent a very small fraction of all the possible animal species - that quite possibly - we'll never know about because it's possible that not a single specimen went through a 'successful' fossilization process.

[@ELEM922]

Ll

[@stxticnathan6627]

It was nodasaur

[@YomamaYodaddyYobjtchassGranny]

Exactly, I like to believe the hollow bone theory for the reasoning of No dragon Fossils found and also applies to most pre-historic Birds

[@stxticnathan6627]

@@YomamaYodaddyYobjtchassGranny the theory of dragons is stupid, what defines a dragon because we have found things that could technically be called dragons all ready, but anything the size of stuff in legend just wouldn't be able to fly

[@YomamaYodaddyYobjtchassGranny]

@@stxticnathan6627I never said they had wings and your ignorance is hilarious by the way assuming I believe they flew. They clearly didn’t fly a “dragon” was most likely just a giant Reptile. It’s been proven that reptiles and other creatures and cause a chemical reaction with gas and spit that causes a combustion of flames, “dragons” could’ve been non flying reptiles who were just massive and could cause chemical combustion which led to the popular myth of dragons so people would steer clear. But apparently you’re not open minded just an ignorant person who was rude in a reply 😂😂😂😂 move along 🤡

[@polygonalmasonary]

I agree, Cliff is eroding fast, but none of us are getting any younger 😅

[@tonycritcher3419]

I agree, not even The Young Ones!

[@seannolan8615]

Now I'm a believer.

[@finosuilleabhain7781]

Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

[@usmh]

Tens of _millions_ of years. That thing has been in the ground for tens of millions of years, and it's still intact! I don't think I will ever completely wrap my head around that.

[@seanw1655]

Because you're being lied to.

[@humelakecabin]

No it hs only been in the ground for about 6 thousand years. The earth was created only 6500years ago.

[@lamborghini9839]

Humans would have been french fries for this guy.

[@lockester2799]

To the people talking about the inaccuracies of the dates: Pliosauroidea the clade, lived from the late jurassic (150 - 145 Million Years Ago) up until the late cretaceous (75 Million Years Ago). They are not referring to the specimens age but the clades age.

[@derrickhead]

this is amazing just cant believe such cool creatures was really living way before us and idk what we gonna do when david aint around such a good narrator

[@audreymuzingo933]

IKR! They need to fill that man with bionic organs so he can live forever!!

[@s2e902]

0:35 why can’t i unsee this skull as a basketball sneaker apocalyptic themed

[@rickylahey9248]

BBC News finally going viral, good work guys

[@brucemjson]

Love the Jurassic Coast. This is such a cool find! ❤ Great to see David, too 👍

[@mayling141]

Amazing! Also, glad to see Sir David A. still doing his thing.

[@ericwheat9540]

This fossil is an amazing find in England.

[@dezzisparkles]

This is amazing!!

[@willcookmakeup]

Omg. Those teeth are longer than his whole hand...could you imagine being attacked by that thing back when it was alive. Truly wild. A two meter long skull?! It was absolutely massive. In some ways, despite knowing I'd die in hours if not minutes in that time period, it would be so incredible to see one in person

[@timw.5030]

This brings back my childhood fascination for dino's! And makes me remember Ross from Friends. Anyhow this find is amazing and those cliffs should definitely be excavated. We could learn so much more. Thanks!

[@buggalujuju]

I imagine ancient and medieval people finding fossils like this and believing dragons were roaming the earth! This skull seriously looks like a dragon skull! Amazing!

[@Plbbbb]

Superbe découverte ! Merci à l'équipe pour ce reportage

[@frederickrohrbacher8606]

Incredible discovery!

[@BenSHammonds]

very much enjoyed this

[@tkcaapi2876]

Thats incredible

[@reconnaissance7372]

It's so incredibly beautifully intact

[@joe.oneill]

It's name was Puff.

[@educatorofneedy5756]

Rebecca: it’s huge My mind : that’s what she said

[@melanie4125]

This news anchor reminds me of early 2000s news programming lol

[@sp-uf6tx]

It's astonishing how great it's condition is

[@simphiwejali1917]

See ladies and gentlemen many kinds of creatures have roamed this earth we just happen to be the ones currently in this timeline on this planet ,in this universe .Existence didnt start with us and wont end with us there much more out there we havent seen yet.

[@priyanshparikh3660]

About the end, humans may surely become the reason to the end of the existence of life the way we are going !!

[@brian-jv9bt]

​@@priyanshparikh3660don't talk rubbish.

[@DaveyJones-cj4xg]

@@brian-jv9bt We can end our existance and the world as we know it but the world will go on until the sun starts to die out.. Life has survived worse than us.

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

@@brian-jv9bt Don't quit your job to risk it all on your analytical skills, bud. lol We're *clearly* projected to self-destruct.

[@robertpetre9378]

Well, now we know where all of the sea monster legends come from. People probably found the bones and fossils of these creatures and assumed that they were actual monsters and dragons 🐉 not knowing that they were really dinosaurs.🦖

[@ro4eva]

I wonder what this sea monster thought about the T. Rex's imposing arms.