While scientists have until now believed that plesiosaurs evolved almost exclusively in marine environments, new fossil analyzes give more weight to the idea that some of these prehistoric creatures also lived in fresh water.
Striking Similarities
Group of prehistoric aquatic reptiles, the plesiosaurs had a long neck, a small head and four paddle-like fins. Having existed for about 150 million years, the latter died out at the same time as the dinosaurs non avian, about 66 million years ago.
In the context of work published in the journal Cretaceous Researchresearchers from the universities of Bath, Portsmouth and Hassan II have analyzed plesiosaur fossils unearthed from the bed of a 100 million year old ancient river system in the region of Kem Kem, a rocky plateau on the border Morocco-Algeria where the remains of many dinosaurs have been discovered over the decades.
These included bones and teeth from a Leptocleididae adult 3 meters long as well as a forelimb bone of a juvenile measuring approximately 1.5 meters. Tooth wear was found to be similar to that of the fearsome spinosaurus, a semi-aquatic carnivorous dinosaur contemporaneous with plesiosaurs found in the same river system, suggesting that such creatures consumed the same type of armored fish.
” They could have evolved in this type of watercourse for extended periods of time, or even lived there permanently, instead of very occasionally leaving the ocean and coming up them for whirlwind visits. “, say the researchers. ” On some level, such findings make the Loch Ness Monster’s past existence plausible.. »
“In the future, we may find other fossils that will confirm such assumptions”
If the remains of Leptocleididae had also been discovered in fossil deposits of brackish water or fresh water, the authors of the study recall that the past existence of plesiosaurs purely of fresh water is still far from certain. Either way, the relatively large number of teeth unearthed so far from such environments suggests a prolonged presence.
” Many people wonder how paleontologists can accurately profile animals that died out millions of years ago. The reality is we can’t always “said Nick Longrich, lead author of the study. ” All we can do is make educated guesses based on the information we have. In the future, we may find other fossils that will confirm such assumptions.. »
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