- The seven-foot-long skull of an ancient pliosaur is on display in Dorset in the UK.
- The pliosaur has been described as a "sea rex" and the "ultimate killing machine."
- Scientists are now in a race against time to find the rest of the creature's body.
The seven-foot-long skull of a fearsome 150-million-year-old sea monster has gone on display in Dorset in the UK, as scientists race to find the rest of its body.
The skull of the 39-foot-long pliosaur, a Jurassic predator described as an "underwater T. Rex," comes complete with 130 razor-sharp teeth.
The snout of the creature was found on a beach near Kimmeridge Bay, according to the BBC. The rest of the skull was extracted from the fast-eroding cliff nearby and took three weeks of vertical digging, per The Guardian.
Scientists are now hoping to find the rest of the creature's body which they think could be nestled in the cliff where the skull was found.
But time is running out. The coastline is rapidly retreating in this area, up to a foot a year, and this could threaten the specimen's integrity if it starts falling from its 50-foot-high resting place, Business Insider previously reported.
"I stake my life the rest of the animal is there," palaeontologist Steve Etches who found the skull, told BBC News.
"And it won't be very long before the rest of the pliosaur drops out and gets lost. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said.
Sir David Attenborough discussed the fossil in a recent BBC documentary which aired in the UK on New Year's Day and will and be broadcast in the US on PBS on February 14.
Researchers estimate that the pliosaur's bite force rivaled that of a T. Rex, earning it the nickname "sea rex," as well as the "ultimate killing machine."
Pliosaurs had jaws more than twice as powerful as today's saltwater crocodiles.
Measuring up to 39 feet in length, the ancient reptile was fast despite its bulk. It was propelled by four massive paddle-like limbs and its hunting strategy involved a single, lethal bite.
"Pliosaurs were the top of the food chain," Etches told the BBC.
"They'd even feed on their own kind, because in the collections we've got pliosaur bones with pliosaur bite marks in them."
The skull is being displayed at the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge in Dorset from today.
