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65m-Year-Old Fossil Skull Found in Creek

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 15:00 CDT

A 65-million-year-old reptile skull unearthed in North Canterbury could hold fresh clues about New Zealand's past.

The mosasaur skull was found during a routine excavation of a creekbed by an Otago University geologist, Associate Professor Ewan Fordyce.

"It is very well preserved. It took several expeditions to recover it," Fordyce said.

"I knew there had been specimens found (in the creek bed) before of big reptile fossils. I thought maybe there would be more."

The mosasaur could be likened to a crocodile with a snake-like body and paddle-like appendages. It is believed to have existed only in water.

The almost metre-long skull found by Fordyce is believed to be between 65 million and 70 million years old.

"We stand a good chance of finding out what species it is, and it may be a new form," he said. "It may be complete enough to shed more light on the animals worldwide."

Work had begun at Otago University to strip the skull from the rock.

The work could take a year, but so far there was only enough funding to do three months work.

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graphic

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MOSASAUR

Mosasaur image courtesy of CM Studio

Mosasaurs were powerful swimmers that had a long, streamlined body. The long head had very pointed, powerful jaws with many sharp teeth.

Length: 4.8m

Mosasaurs had four short, paddle-like limbs adapted to life in the water. A long tail, perhaps finned, completed its serpentine body. Mosasaurs probably had scaly skin.

. ( please refer to hardcopy for text of fossil / dinosaurs.)

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Fordyce Ewan Fordyce holds the fossilised mosasaur jaw.

Source: Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand

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