The scientists have discovered a species of extinct marine lizards previously unknown to science in Orenburg Oblast. It is reported by TASS, referring to the Chairman of the Ulyanovsk Branch of the All-Russian Paleontological Society Vladimir Efimov.
“Relatively whole fragments of skeletons of a previously unknown species of plesiosaurs of “polikotilus” genus that lived in the late Cretaceous period were found in a unique field in Gaisky District of Orenburg Oblast” - Efimov reported. The animal had a body 4-7 meters long, a powerful neck and a large head and lived more than 65 million years ago. The scientists decided to name the new species of plesiosaurs in honor of the Head of the Club of Young Geologists-Ecologists of the town of Orsk Galina Sopotsko - the main author of the discovery. Plesiosaurs include marine reptiles that lived on Earth in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods - from 199 to 65 million years ago.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina