Scientists have found the mostly intact skull of a giant, deadly sea reptile.

Scientists have unearthed a largely intact skull of an immense and deadly sea creature that stalked the waters off England's coast millions of years ago.

It's not something you would have wanted to encounter on an afternoon swim.

Just the skull of the pliosaur, a marine reptile, was around six feet long, indicating how massive the sea monster would have been. It had a parietal — or third — eye and glands on its snout that may have helped it locate prey.

And when it did find prey — such as other reptiles or even fellow pliosaurs — it would chomp down with its 130 teeth in a bite far stronger than a crocodile's.

Though the fearsome animals existed contemporaneously with dinosaurs, the pliosaur is more closely related to lizards or snakes.

Scientists say the newly discovered fossil is one of the most intact pliosaur skulls ever found, and it's set to be featured in a BBC One special hosted by David Attenborough on New Year's Day. (In the U.S., it will air on PBS on Feb. 14.)

Source: www.npr.org

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