Jurassic ‘Sea Monster’ Found In Cambridgeshire Quarry May Be New Plesiosaur Species

A giant prehistoric "sea monster" was found in Cambridgeshire and its discovery could lead the Oxford archaeologist to a new species of plesiosaur.

The newly found "sea monster," which has been called as Eve, was unearthed at the same place where the archaeologists recently uncovered Britain's best preserved Bronze Age settlement.

Eve was found to have an 8 feet long neck, a barrel-shaped body, four flippers and a short tail. However, the skull needs to be properly examined since it was still surrounded by clay.

The plesiosaur was initially discovered in November 2014 by Dr Carl Harrington, a paleontologist with the Oxford Clay Working Group, who was working in a clay quarry on Must Farm, near Peterborough. Dr. Harrington and his team discovered the 165 million-year-old Jurassic creature's bones at the quarry. Together, they dug up more than 600 pieces of its bones as well as its skull, which still encased in clay, and spent more than 400 hours cleaning and repairing the remains.

"It was one of those absolute 'wow' moments. I was the first human to come face-to-face with this reptile," he said according to BBC News.

"I'd never seen so much bone in one spot in a quarry," Dr Harrington added.

According to Daily Mail, Earth Collection manager, Dr Hilary Ketchum, of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History said, "We are so excited that the plesiosaur has come to the museum where it will be used for research, education and display."

At the beginning of the 19th century, Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles to be discovered. They govern the oceans for more than 140 million years through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods before dying out with the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

Eve, the newly found "sea monster," was donated by Cambridgeshire landowners Forterra to the Oxford museum.