David Attenborough on a monster the dimensions of a double-decker bus
You realize it have to be a particular discovery when Sir David Attenborough describes it as ‘probably the most extraordinary’ he has encountered in 70 years of reporting on the pure world.
The discover in query is a large cranium belonging to a species of pliosaur, a lethal reptile that swam within the oceans 150 million years in the past.
Nobody knew any such pliosaur even existed earlier than the cranium was found embedded in a cliff alongside Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
‘It took ability and bravado to take away it and cutting-edge science and expertise to accumulate details about it,’ says Sir David, who presents Attenborough And The Giant Sea Monster.
Palaeobiologist Dr Judyth Sassoon reveals this can be a brand new species of pliosaur so as to add to the eight already recognized. ‘Which is actually thrilling,’ says Sir David.
Viewers will see a chilling CGI reproduction of the pliosaur (pictured) swimming by means of the ocean
The documentary explains how the snout was discovered by a fossil hunter final yr. Drones had been used to determine the place on the close by cliff it might have fallen from.
Sir David Attenborough (pictured) presents Attenborough And The Giant Sea Monster
Once the cranium, full with rows of razor-sharp tooth, was situated, a crew of consultants abseiled down the sheer cliff to chip painstakingly away on the rock to extract it for examination.
Viewers will see a chilling CGI reproduction of the creature swimming by means of the ocean. ‘The pliosaur was the T-rex of the water, and this explicit one was the dimensions of a double-decker bus,’ explains Sir David.
He learns that its tooth had twice the chew pressure of saltwater crocodiles and it had 4 big flippers that allowed it to swim at 30mph.
‘The pliosaur might stalk its prey even within the darkest depths. It’s a creature that might have been totally terrifying – and it hunted within the seas simply off the English coast.’ And you thought Jaws was scary!
Attenborough And The Giant Sea Monster, New Year’s Day, 8pm, BBC1.
