Ancient Sea Monster Called 'Snaky Crocface' Found in Wyoming

An ancient sea monster from millions of years ago has been found in the waters of an ancient seaway of what is now Wyoming, United States. This is according to a new study which indicated a new species of a long-necked marine reptile which resembles a plesiosaur. Scientists named the creature as Serpentisuchops pfisterae which translates for "snaky croc-face" due to its hybrid appearance.

Scientists from the new research believes the prehistoric marine animal used its crocodile-like jaws to eat its prey like fish and other small sea creatures during its time. Paleontologists first discovered the fossils of the gargantuan predator in 1995 during an excavation of the uppermost part of Pierre Shale, a geological formation from the Upper Cretaceous period approximately 101 to 66 million years ago.

Wyoming Sea Monster

The researchers have published their new paper in the journal iScience, where they have showed the newfound snaky croc-face has unique morphological features from plesiosaurs.

The new discovery shows a new type of animal that specializes in a manner different from all other plesiosaurs that were still alive during that time.

Walter Scott Persons IV, a paleontologist from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, told Live Science that the creature is a weird and unique beast that crosses between the two types of plesiosaurs.

Persons adds that the first type had a long, snake-like neck with a small head and the second type has a short neck and a long crocodile-like jaw.

Snaky Crocface

Paleontologists say snaky croc-face was 23-foot-long (7 meter) and whose remains have been on display at the Glenrock Paleontological Museum near the city of Casper, Wyoming.

Since its discovery over 25 years ago, paleontologists have carefully studied the animal's remains, which include about 35% of its body and a well-preserved lower jaw. The fossil also contains its skull, complete neck, vertebrae, and most of its tail and some ribs, according to Persons.

The paleontologist adds that the only pieces that were missing are components of the animal's limbs or paddles, which it uses for swimming. Persons also states the site also contained 19 teeth, which resembles "the surface of the moon" or a "trip to Mordor," that are still intact in the specimen's jaw, as cited by Live Science.

The Plesiosaurs

The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an order or clade in the animal kingdom consisting of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles. The large sauropterygian animal lived during the Early Jurassic Period. Meanwhile, some reports say it first appeared during the late Triassic Period.

In 2019, new research emerged supporting the hypothesis that plesiosaurs gave birth to their young and provided rapid fetal bone growth which led some babies to become poor swimmers, requiring parental care, according to scientists from various institutions, as cited by the Natural History Museum (NHM).

As a result, scientists confirmed plesiosaurs had large babies due to the rapid development of the fetal bone, sacrificing bone strength for bone growth, as cited by NHM.