Sir David Attenborough has made an incredible discovery while filming his upcoming BBC documentary.
The broadcasting legend is investigating the prehistoric history of the UK in his new firm which has the working title “Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster”.
The show, filmed across the UK, is focused on bringing long-lost secrets of the ancient world back to light, Lad Bible reports.
Sir Attenborough showed the skull of a pliosaur, a giant crocodile-like creature with a huge head and big jaws. It’s one of the most “ferocious Jurassic predators ever known”, he said.
“Pliosaurs were the biggest and most formidable hunters in the Jurassic seas, the marine equivalent, you might say of T. Rex,” Sir Attenborough told the BBC.
“The skull of this one is, by itself, over 2m long and armed with massive fangs.
“Frustratingly, skulls, which can tell us most about an animal, are only too easily smashed before fossilisation but this one is virtually undamaged and promises to reveal all kinds of new details about these terrifying hunters that preyed on Lyme Regis’ better known ichthyosaurs.”
It is thought that the pliosaur is a completely new species. In the film, experts are working at a secret location to excavate the skull.
Executive producer of the show Mike Gunton said Sir Attenborough’s “eyes absolutely lit up when we told him about this amazing find. He couldn’t wait to join the ‘dig’ and get a first look at the fossil bones for himself.”
