The discovery of the skull of the biggest hunter in history
The discovery of the 2-meter skull of C. Rex, a 150-million-year-old dinosaur that easily hunted the legendary T. Rex, has amazed scientists, and they hope to unearth the rest of the skeleton of this ancient predator.
According to Khabar Online, it was in 2023 that a 150-million-year-old skull of a species of super-reptile (pliosaur) was found and recovered at a height of 12 meters on top of a cliff along the Jurassic coast, and the news of finding such a fossil made a noise like a bomb.
This skull belonged to a pliosaur (a type of ancient marine reptile) that could defeat Tyrannosaurus rex in battle, and the large dimensions of this skull made it enter the Guinness Book of World Records. About 95% of the surface of this pliosaur skull named “SeaRex” is healthy and complete, and therefore it is now the most complete skull of its kind known on the planet, and almost all its main bones are intact. This skull has 130 interconnected sharp teeth, which is very similar to the skull of the same pliosaurs that swam in the oceans 150 million years ago.
Dr. Judith Sassoon, an expert on pliosaurs from the University of Bristol, said in an interview with the representative of Guinness World Records: “I have done many studies on many pliosaurs from the Kimmeridgian period, but to date, even a specimen that is so completely preserved has not been found. Yes, I had not seen it. “This specimen has a lot of anatomical detail that other specimens have never been so complete.”
How was this strange skull discovered?
The discoverer of this unique skull is Phil Jacobs, a fossil enthusiast who first saw its snout on a remote beach and sent it to Steve Echs, a fossil expert and owner of the Echs collection, with a video recording. This skull will be displayed in this center.
“Using a drone, we scanned the entire path along the cliff,” said Mr. Aches. Later, we found out that this is the only part of the skull that protrudes from the rock. We had to make sure of this, and for this reason, we had to go down the cliff with a rope to see it closely. “When we saw the skull up close, we realized that it was very well preserved and that's why it was so strange and amazing.”
“It didn't take long to find its exact location,” he continued. This skull was right in the middle of a rock. “My God,” you think to yourself. But it was not an easy task at all.”
Numerous endurance tests were performed on the rock to retrieve the 2-meter skull, and everyone, even the long-time fossil expert Sir David Attenborough, was stunned by the discovery.
Sir David Attenborough said: “This is one of the biggest skulls you've ever seen. It was really big and the scale of it was the first thing that really impressed me. The important thing about this is that not only the skull is the most informative part of the body, but also the most delicate part of the body, and the details of this skull and its health are very rare. This skull has remained almost flawless and intact.
In search of a skeleton
The skull is currently on display in the Etches Collection at Kimridge, and Steve Etches considers it to be one of the most important examples found in Kimridge clay, and believes it to be one of the best even in the world. The ACHS Collection is now asking for donations for the SeaRex rescue project; Because they believe that this skull is not all that should be studied in this part of the Jurassic coast.
Chris Moore, a paleontologist who played a prominent role in excavating and extracting this skull, said: “I'm sure the rest of this animal's body is there as well. The environment there is a bit rough and therefore the skull is separated from the animal's body, but I am sure that the rest of the animal's body is also there. We even took out part of the shoulder blade and some of the fingers and toes and some of the spinal vertebrae that were inside the head and we could see that there were more bones. So I am sure that the whole body of the animal is there.”
