Published3 hours ago
The skull of a colossal sea monster that was unearthed from the Jurassic Coast is going on display.
The 2m-long fossil belongs to a pliosaur – one of the most fearsome predators the planet has ever seen.
The public can see the 150-million-year-old marine reptile at the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge in Dorset, close to where the beast was found.
The rest of its skeleton may still be entombed in the crumbling cliffs. The hope is it may eventually be recovered.
The snout of the pliosaur was discovered by a fossil enthusiast on a beach near Kimmeridge Bay.
The rest of its skull was extracted from half-way down a fast-eroding cliff face by a team precariously dangling from ropes.
Steve Etches led the effort to remove and prepare the fossil.
It’s now being unveiled at the museum that bears his name, sitting alongside the Jurassic fossils he’s spent a lifetime collecting.
“It’s going to be impressive, especially when children come, because they’ll come in and see it face-on – which should have the required effect,” he told BBC News.
The pliosaur skull is one of the most complete specimens ever found and it is exquisitely preserved.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see that this
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