Half A Century Old Fossil Has Been Extracted, Could This Be Nessie?

Scientists found a ferocious dolphin-like fossil. After half of a century-long that it has been discovered, experts revealed its identity. Could this be Nessie?

For millions of years, the fossil of the so-called creature has been embedding between the rocks. It was kept in the storage at the National Museum of Scotland for over 50 years. Thus, in partnership with the Edinburgh University together with National Museums Scotland and Energy Company SSE, the fossil can be now removed from the rock.

It was described as a dolphin -like predator and lived around 170 million years ago. It measured up to four meters long and had a pointed head equipped with hundreds of cone-shaped teeth, which scientists from the University of Edinburgh said that it used to feed on squid and fish.

A skeleton of a creature called as the Storr Lochs Monster was discovered near the beach by Norrie Gillies the facility manager of the SSE's Storr Lochs Power Station near the beach in Isle Skye way back in 1966.

Meanwhile, paleontologists formed a team to study the fossil and they concluded that it belongs to the extinct family of marine reptile known as ichthyosaurs. During the time were dinosaurs was reigning the land the Storr Lochs Monster was ruling the prehistoric seas, according to News.Com.

Thus, this collaboration and the extraction of the skeleton can now help experts to study on how did the ichthyosaurs evolved during the Middle Jurassic Period. As part of the Earth's history that has been buried due to lack of fossil, they can now study for answers.

According to the University of Edinburgh,Dr Steve Brusatte from the University's School of GeoSciences said, "It's all thanks to the keen eye of an amateur collector that this remarkable fossil was ever found in the first place, which goes to show that you don't need an advanced degree to make huge scientific discoveries."