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Title: 'Monster' fossil find in Arctic
Source:
BBC News
URL Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5403570.stm
Published: Oct 5, 2006
Author: Paul Rincon
Post Date: 2006-10-05 23:07:56 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 217
Comments: 15
The 150 million-year-old fossils were uncovered on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard - about halfway between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole. The finds belong to two groups of extinct marine reptiles - the plesiosaurs and the ichthyosaurs. One skeleton has been nicknamed The Monster because of its enormous size. These animals were the top predators living in what was then a relatively cool, deep sea. Palaeontologists from the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum discovered the fossils during fieldwork in a remote part of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. Jorn Harald Hurum, co-director of the dig, said he was taken aback by the sheer density of fossil remains in one area. "You can't walk for more than 100m without finding a skeleton. That's amazing anywhere in the world," he told BBC News. Dr Dave Martill, a palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth commented: "These sites are very unusual. To find that many individuals is a remarkable thing - that's a bonanza." Ichthyosaurs bore a passing resemblance to modern dolphins, but they used an upright tail fin to propel themselves through the water. Plesiosaurs are said to resemble descriptions of Scotland's mythical Loch Ness monster. They used two sets of powerful flippers for swimming and came in two varieties - one with a small head and very long neck, and another with a large head and short neck. The short-necked varieties are known as pliosaurs. The discovery of a gigantic pliosaur, nicknamed The Monster, was one of the most remarkable discoveries of the expedition. Its skeleton has dinner-plate-sized neck vertebrae, and the lower jaw has teeth as big as bananas. Tooth in the neck The skeleton is not yet fully excavated, but its skull is about 3m long, suggesting the body could be more than 8m from the tip of its nose to its tail. "What's amazing here is that it looks like we have a complete skeleton. No other complete pliosaur skeletons are known anywhere in the world," said Dr Hurum. The fossil hoard comprises 21 long-necked plesiosaurs, six ichthyosaurs and one short-necked plesiosaur. The bones were unearthed in fine-grained sedimentary rock called black shale. "Everything we're finding is articulated. It's not single bones here and there, and bits and pieces - these are complete skeletons," said Dr Hurum. After death, the carcasses came to rest in mud at the bottom of the deep ocean, where little or no oxygen was present. Dr Hurum said an unusual chemistry of the mud could have been responsible for the remarkable preservation of the specimens: "Something happened with the chemistry that's really good for bone preservation. Some skeletons are pale white even though they're in black shale - they look like roadkill." The marine reptiles found in the Norwegian archipelago are very similar to ones known from southern England. Dr Hurum said the animals could have been living in the same ocean and he now plans to compare the Arctic finds with those from Britain. The Svalbard excavation was led by Dr Hurum and Hans Arne Nakrem, also of Oslo's Natural History Museum. The museum plans to return to the field site in the summer of 2007 to resume excavations. Poster Comment:
Science reporter, BBC News 
Norwegian scientists have discovered a "treasure trove" of fossils belonging to giant sea reptiles that roamed the seas at the time of the dinosaurs. 
These sites are very unusual. To find that many individuals is a remarkable thing - that's a bonanza 
The researchers even found evidence of an attack on one of the creatures. An ichthyosaur tooth is embedded in a neck vertebra from one plesiosaur belonging to the genus Kimmerosaurus. 
Artist's interpretation of "The Monster" catching a smaller plesiosaur. (Artwork: Tor Sponga, BT)
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#1. To: robin (#0)
No, that's my 15 yo son, 6'5", 210 Lb, at a Chinese Buffet.
All you can eat?
"If there’s another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country." - Daniel Ellsberg Author, Pentagon Papers That is the point. Their bookeeper sighs when they see him walk in the door. Prolly a bargain from our point of view - I can't take the industrial form of food most of the buffets carry.
I figured that one out ;) Not to worry, there are always those dainty eaters that will balance it all out.
"If there’s another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country." - Daniel Ellsberg Author, Pentagon Papers Say, are those Rhesus monkeys?
The faster the Aryan Nation mob at Freedom4um are caged and chained, the better off we'll be. I’ll cheering when they are forced to behave. - Aaron
Yes, they are.
2 legged land monsters with opposing thumbs.
"If there’s another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country." - Daniel Ellsberg Author, Pentagon Papers Those are some sicko peoples. Well paid sickos for the state.
Do you like the Red Rhesus monkey or the Blue Rhesus monkey?
The faster the Aryan Nation mob at Freedom4um are caged and chained, the better off we'll be. I’ll cheering when they are forced to behave. - Aaron
I am against vivisection, I like both of them. I'd like to see them out of the boxes and the bastards in the picture behind them in boxes similar to the ones they are in.
Did you see the article I swiped that picture from? NEW CLUES TO THE CAUSES OF VIOLENCE - By Gene Bylinsky; From FORTUNE, January 1973, pp. 134-146. The honkies in the picture are the authors of the evil experiment.
The faster the Aryan Nation mob at Freedom4um are caged and chained, the better off we'll be. I’ll cheering when they are forced to behave. - Aaron
I don't recall hearing the name Bylinsky before tonight, but I remember Heath from reading old Tom Forcade articles.
The faster the Aryan Nation mob at Freedom4um are caged and chained, the better off we'll be. I’ll cheering when they are forced to behave. - Aaron
Remember who "invented" psychology.
Artist's interpretation of "The Monster" catching a smaller plesiosaur. (Artwork: Tor Sponga, BT) (17 images)
#2. To: tom007 (#1)
No, that's my 15 yo son, 6'5", 210 Lb, at a Chinese Buffet.
#3. To: robin (#2)
All you can eat?
#4. To: tom007 (#3)
#5. To: robin (#4)
#6. To: Dakmar (#5)
#7. To: Dakmar (#5)
#8. To: Dakmar (#5)
#9. To: Ferret Mike (#6)
#10. To: Dakmar (#9)
#11. To: tom007 (#8)
#12. To: Ferret Mike (#10)
#13. To: Ferret Mike (#10)
***LEAP***
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. Government will lead the American people, and the West in general, into an unbearable hell and choking life.
-- Osama bin Laden
"A prohibition law strikes at the very principles upon which our govt was founded."
- Lincoln
All our liberties are due to men who, when their conscience has compelled them, have broken the laws of the land.
--William K Clifford
#14. To: Dakmar (#5)
Sigh.....so they're working with Rhesus pieces?
"I woke up in the CRAZY HOUSE."
#15. To: Ferret Mike (#10)
I agree with you. I think the "scientists" who engage in stuff like that are fundamentally evil people who get a kick out of torturing animals. There's nothing we need to know that badly. I'd love to attach some electrodes to their small dangly parts.
"I woke up in the CRAZY HOUSE."
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