David Attenborough’s new BBC documentary “Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster” reveals information about a massive Pliosaur skull, which is an ancient sea reptile, announced the New Scientist magazine in January 2024.

The Pliosaur was a predator from the Jurassic period. A fossil skull was found in a cliff in Dorset, United Kingdom, and studied by research scientists – palaeontologists – at the University of Bristol. Scientist Judyth Sassoon says that it is likely to be a new species that has not been found before. The scientists hope that more of the skeleton may be found in the cliff. 

The skull was in excellent condition, enabling scientists to see that its sensory pits (holes) in its nose were connected to blood vessels and nerves. This means that the Pliosaur could detect changes in water pressure as it lived in the sea. 

The skull also enables scientists to estimate the strength of its bite. Its bite force might be two times stronger than the bite force of a saltwater crocodile, which is also a reptile and known to have one of the most powerful bite forces in the animal kingdom. 

The Pliosaur has trihedral teeth with two sharp cutting edges and striated grooves. Trihedral means that the teeth are solid figures with three sides. The scientists think that the striated grooves help to stop a vacuum forming when the teeth bite into prey, giving the Pliosaur the ability to bite repeatedly and swiftly into its prey without its teeth getting stuck in the prey’s flesh. 

New Scientist video. Watch a film about this amazing pliosaur discovery at youtube.com/newscientist

Photographs: New Scientist, 3 January 2024

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