Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
Fossils of a marine reptile that lived 85 million years ago have been formally identified as a new species, nearly 40 years after they were first discovered.
Marine reptiles ruled the seas during the “Age of Dinosaurs” and died out 66 million years ago along with all the non-avian dinosaurs. The newly described species belong to a group known as elasmosaurs which had long necks and paddle-like flippers.
Palaeontologists were circumspect about designating the fossils to a new species when they were first described in 2002.
Further analysis published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology shows that the creature had a strange mix of traits that set it apart from any other elasmosaur species. It has now been described as a new species named Traskasaura sandrae.
The first Traskasaura fossils were discovered in 1988 in rocks on Vancouver Island in Canada’s British Columbia (BC) province. Since then, fossils belonging to another 2 individuals have been discovered including a well-preserved juvenile skeleton.
All 3 Traskasaura specimens are included in the new paper.
“Plesiosaur fossils have been known for decades in British Columbia,” explains lead author F. Robin O’Keefe from Marshall University, USA. “However, the identity of the animal that left the fossils has remained a mystery, even as it were declared BC’s provincial fossil in 2023. Our new research published today finally solves this mystery.”
“The scientific confusion concerning this taxon is understandable. It has a very odd mix of primitive and derived traits. The shoulder, in particular, is unlike any other plesiosaur I have ever seen, and I have seen a few.”
Traskasaura would have been about 12m long – the length of a bus – and had heavy, sharp, robust teeth, ideal for crushing. The palaeontologists believe that these teeth may have evolved to help the animal prey on shelled marine creatures, like ammonites, to get at their soft insides.
Like other elasmosaurs, Traskasaura had a very long neck. At least 36 well-preserved cervical vertebrae have been found, pointing to more than 50 neck bones.
The bones discovered in 1988 are now on display at the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre in British Columbia.
