7m long sea monster appears after 246 million years of extinction

(NLDO) - A new species of sea monster has finally been identified after half a century of being exposed on an island in New Zealand.

According to Sci-News , research led by Dr. Benjamin Kear from the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University (Sweden) said the new sea monster was a Nothosaurs, which roamed the seas millions of years before dinosaurs ruled the land.

The fossilized remains of the sea monster were discovered in 1978 from a loose rock found along the main branch of the Balmacaan Stream, at the foot of Mount Harper in the Harper Range in the central South Island of New Zealand.

But it is only now that a Swedish research team has discovered the true identity of the strange animal.

Portrait of newly identified Triassic sea monster - Graphic photo: Stavros Kundromichalis

Nothosaurs were a group of Triassic marine reptiles that were distant ancestors of the plesiosaurs that flourished during the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

They belonged to a larger group of ancient marine reptiles called Sauropterygians.

The creature is characterized by a long body and tail, and its giant body can grow up to 7 meters long, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology.

This Nothosaurs fossil dates back 246 million years, to the early Triassic period. It is 40 million years older than the previous oldest known Sauropterygian fossil in the Southern Hemisphere.

The area it lived in at that time was rich in marine life, providing a rich food source for the species to thrive.

“The origin, distribution, and timing of Nothosaurs' arrival in these remote regions remain debated,” the authors said.

The oldest Nothosaur fossils date back to about 248 million years ago and were found along the ancient Northern Low Latitude Belt.

Some theories suggest that they migrated along the northern polar coast, or swam across inland sea routes, or used ocean currents to cross the Panthalassa superocean of that period.

It is possible that the ancient origin of this species is in the equatorial region.

However, in any case, it is clear that this family of sea monsters spread throughout the world, dominating the oceans for a time, before the sea monsters of the dinosaur era such as mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs gradually took over.

This fossil evidence also suggests that the New Zealand region could be a promising land for discoveries of Triassic reptiles, an important period in the evolution of Earth's animals.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thuy-quai-dai-7-m-lo-dien-sau-246-trieu-nam-tuyet-tich-196240619095011689.htm