Plesiosaurs are among the most familiar dinosaur - geological era devil dog creatures , chance upon nearly 200 years ago . However , we ’re only now learning that some species could have adapted to fresh water ecosystem – specifically , in what is now the Sahara Desert .
When fossil hunterMary Anningdiscovered giant long - necked reptiles with four flippers in the rocks of Dorset ’s Jurassic Coast , it created a storm that alerted the humanity to the existence of extinct giant . reconstruction of Anning ’s discovery shaped portrayals of the Loch Ness Monster ( Nessie ) and other mythical creatures worldwide .
However , Anning ’s discoveries lived in piquant environs . The same has been dead on target for most subsequent plesiosaur discoveries – until the new announcement in the journalCretaceous Researchof vertebrae and teeth from river - dwell species from Morocco ’s Kem Kem deposits .
The pleseosaur flipper bone that began it all. Image Credit Un iversity of Bath
The three grownup river - plesiosaurus described were around three meters long ( 10 feet ) . That ’s large enough you would n’t want to meet one paddling , but small compared to their maritime cousins , which reach 15 measure ( 50 invertebrate foot ) . The paper also includes the arm osseous tissue of a juvenile whose total length was probably around 1.5 meters ( 5 feet ) .
The authors consider it more likely they lived permanently in fresh water , likemodern river dolphins , rather than switching between the environments , but acknowledge the question is unsettled . However , with opus of at least a XII animals , it appears plesiosaurs were common in freshwater .
" It ’s scrappy poppycock , but isolated pearl actually tell us a bunch about ancient ecosystem and animate being in them , ” co - author Bath’sDr Nick Longrichsaid in astatement . Freshwaterplesiosaur tooth were extremely drawn , suggesting armoured Pisces the Fishes were a big part of the diet .
Plesiosaur bones, such as this vertebra, are distinctively simple, as if designed by a child or made from lego. Image Credit: University of Bath
Longrich identify in ablog postencountering a plesiosaur vertebrate in a rock workshop in Erfoud “ On the sharpness of the Sahara ” , rather than its original location . This trigger off a hunt for more .
" It ’s been really interesting to see the focal point this project has gone in , " lead author Georgina Bunkersaid .
The giant theropodSpinosaurusalso hunted in these piss . Nevertheless , fresh water environs may have been something of a easing for them compared to the alternative .
The waters off Morocco in the later Cretaceous housed an ecosystem unlike any other we know . Where most New and ancient surround have 1 - 2 large predatory specie , a dozenare known to have live off Africanear the same fourth dimension , and there may be more to find . This occurred reasonably after the uncovering described here , but no admiration some enterprising plesiosaur decided to investigate river rima oris .
If plesiosaurs could adapt to freshwater in one place , shrinking a little in the cognitive process , they may have inhabited other freshwater environments in the Cretaceous . After all , dolphins have adapt to river environments at least four clock time , and small plesiosaurus have been found from what would have been briny , or perchance freshwater , environments elsewhere .
However , numerousmedia exit havetaken this newsand drawn a bow so long it would have been utilitarian atAgincourt . These reports taste to make the call that Nessie might be both existent and a freshwater plesiosaur . They hinge on themedia releaseincluding the words ; “ On one level , it ’s plausible , ” snub “ The last plesiosaurs finally died out at the same time as the dinosaurs , 66 million years ago , ” in the following sentence .
Plesiosaurs may indeed have played in an ancient Loch , but there is no evidence whatsoever they survived the asteroid - induced end - Cretaceous extinction . Even if they had , survivor would almost sure have prefer equatorial environments .
Loch Ness ' acerbic cold-blooded and low primary productiveness could hardly be further from the warm , ample waters of the Moroccan River plesiosaurs enjoyed in the Cretaceous .
