Fossil remains of a huge and fearsome marine predator, dubbed 鈥淧redator X鈥�, have been discovered in Svalbard, a remote Norwegian Arctic archipelago.
About 15 metres long and weighing 45 tonnes, the creature is a new species of pliosaur, and ruled the Jurassic seas some 147 million years ago.
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Predator X had a head twice the size of Tyrannosaurus rex and its bite had four times the force, at around 15,000 kilograms (33,000 pounds) over the whole jaw. Its teeth were each around 30 centimetres (1 foot) long.
The remains were discovered in June 2008 during a two-week expedition led by J酶rn Hurum of the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo.
鈥楿ltimate predator鈥�
鈥淚ts anatomy, physiology and hunting strategy all point to it being the ultimate predator 鈥� the most dangerous creature to patrol the Earth鈥檚 oceans,鈥� .
The key find enabling the dimensions of the beast to be calculated was a spherical bone called the bassioccipital condyle, which connected the base of the skull to the spine.
鈥淭he condyle we found measures 15 centimetres in diameter, the largest of any known pliosaur species,鈥� explains Hurum. 鈥淏y comparison, the condyle of T. Rex measures just 8 centimetres, meaning that Predator X鈥檚 skull was at least double the size,鈥� he says.
Giant jigsaw
In all, the team found 20,000 fragments of the creature鈥檚 skeleton, which is being assembled at the museum.
Analyses of bones from the four flippers suggest that the animal cruised using just two fore-flippers 鈥� using the back pair for extra speed when pursuing and capturing prey.
Predator X鈥檚 brain was of a similar type and size, proportionally, to that of today鈥檚 great white shark, the team says.
The full details of the find are to be published later this year, and a documentary following the expedition will be shown around the world from May.
