MAY 31, 2016
by Chuck Bednar
A rare, 165-million-year old
plesiosaur skeleton discovered in 2014 and donated to the Oxford Museum of Natural
History earlier this year remains the subject of intense research as
scientists work to find answers to the many mysteries still surrounding the
massive marine reptiles.
In January, an 18 foot (5.5
meter) long specimen known as “Eve” was donated by the owners of the
Peterborough quarry where it was discovered, museum officials announced at
the time. Since then, Dr. Hilary Ketchum, who looks after geological specimens
at the center, and her colleagues have been working to clean and repair the
creature, according to BBC
News.
It takes more than an hour to
assemble Eve’s skeleton, the British media outlet explained, calling the
fossils “the biggest jigsaw puzzle you've ever seen” while adding that, “in
this case, there are no instructions on the box.” In addition, museum
conservators were working tirelessly to remove a clay encasing from the sea
monster’s skull so that it could be analyzed by a CT scanner.
The intense preparation and
examination of the remains should shed new light not only on this specific
specimen – whose gender remains a mystery, despite its feminine name – but
plesiosaurs as a whole, as there is still much to learn about the biology,
anatomy and evolution of the marine reptiles that dominated the seas throughout
much of the Mesozoic Era.
Could ‘Eve’ be an entirely new
species of marine reptile?
Plesiosaurs are “a type of
reptile related to other reptiles like dinosaurs, crocodiles, ichthyosaurs and
turtles,” Dr. Ketchum explained to BBC News, “but actually we're not really
sure where they fit in the grand scheme of things.” The creatures had long
necks, broad and flat bodies, short tails and four long flippers powered by
strong muscles attached to the shoulders and pelvis.
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