Fossils of massive marine predator found in the land of Loch Ness monster

The fossil remains of a marine predator that would give the Loch Ness monster a run for its money have been found off a Scottish island.

In a study published this month, scientists identified the fossil as a previously unknown species. The dolphin-like reptile, which prowled the shallow seas around Scotland 170 million years ago, was as long as 14 feet and featured a long snout full of crocodile-like teeth. It inhabited the warm, shallow seas around Scotland and was likely the top predator at the time, feeding on fish and other reptiles.

It would have served a role similar to what sharks and whale play today.

"During the time of dinosaurs, the waters of Scotland were prowled by big reptiles the size of motor boats," said Steve Brusatte, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the study that appeared in the Scottish Journal of Geology. "Their fossils are very rare, and only now, for the first time we've found a new species that was uniquely Scottish."

The new species - Dearcmhara shawcrossi - is named in honor of an amateur fossil hunter, Brian Shawcross, who recovered the creature's fossils from the Island of Skye's Bearreraig Bay in 1959. Unlike most fossil hunters that sell their finds, Shawcross donated his to The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow where it was rediscovered.

"Too much has disappeared in the past," Brusatte said. "We hope this story resonates where people can see where this totally new type of animal was found not be scientists but by an amateur. This amateur did a great thing. Instead of selling it or putting up on his mantal, he donated it so we have been able to preserve it for perpetuity and study it."

A team of palaeontologists led by Brusatte pieced together fossil fragments of skulls, teeth, vertebrae and an upper arm bone to determine it was indeed a new species from the Early-to-Middle Jurassic period.

During the Jurassic Period, much of Skye was under water. At the time, it was joined to the rest of the United Kingdom and was part of a large island positioned between landmasses that gradually drifted apart and became Europe and North America. Skye is one of the few places in the world where fossils from the Middle Jurassic Period have been found.

"Skye is this incredible place for finding fossils from 160 million to 180 million years," Brusatte said. "There is very few places around the world that preserve of dinosaurs and other reptiles of that age. The reason why there are more in Scotland than other places is dumb luck. Scotland was a place at the time where you had a lot of different living animals in very diverse ecosystems."

Brusatte said the discovery could help shed light on the transition that occurred from 160 to 180 million years ago from very primitive marine reptiles called ichyosaurs like Dearcmhara shawcrossi to related species that were more than twice as large and were considered more advanced.

"It is hinting this big turnover event was something that was gradual and didn't happen all at once and was staggered in different areas," he said. "It suggest that it wasn't a sudden volcanic eruption, asteroid event or a rapid change in climate."

But will it provide some insight into the mythical Nessie, a marine reptile known as a plesiosaur that thrived some 65 million years ago and has been reportedly spotted in Scotland's Loch Ness? In a word: No.

With more than a hint of disdain in his voice, Brusatte said there was no connection, noting that Loch Ness is far from Skye and that Dearchhara shawcrossi thrived hundreds of million years before the glacial lake was even formed. "They don't have anything to do with each other."