Alaska"s First Elasmosaur Fossil Excavated - http://clapway.com/2015/07/25/alaskas-first-elasmosaur-fossil-excavated654/

Since much about the early phase of the world is still much unknown, or at least mysterious, many are drawn to that particular era. Who wouldn’t be, what with the exotic sea creatures and land creatures that lived in those times and would eventually become extinct or evolve to the animals of today?

elasmosaur fossil identified by curator of earth sciences at university of alaska

There are thousands of museums across the world featuring exhibits of these ancient creatures. One of those exhibits is in the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North’s Dinosaur exhibit.

With this exhibit already up, it is appropriate that one of the museum’s own, the curator of the Earth Sciences, helped identify a fossil in the mountains that would become Alaska’s first elasmosaur fossil. That person is Dr. Pat Druckenmiller, a vertebrate paleontologist, who also helped in providing things for the dinosaur exhibit, i.e. he helped to excavate some of the fossils.

The discovery of Alaska’s first elasmosaur fossil

The fossil discovered was of an Elasmosaurus, a sea creature from the same family as the plesiosaur. The news of the find was announced by the University of Alaska in a press release, on the 22nd of this month.

The fossil was found in the Talkeetna Mountain area by a several people, one of which included Anchorage based fossil collector, Curvin Metzler. After the initial find, Dr. Druckenmiller was contacted and invited to area in order to examine the fossil, which he then identified as what it was. The piece he examined was sticking out of the 60 foot cliff, and he found it was part of the neck area. So further excavation went underway to see what else could be recovered. From what was uncovered, the length of Alaska’s first elasmosaur was estimated to be about twenty-five feet long. But there is still more to uncover as of yet.

fossil can help us learn more about the time period

By finding Alaska’s first elasmosaur, more studies can be done about the creature and tell us more about life in those olden days in the Alaskan region. As of yet, three of these types of sea creatures have been found in Alaska, and the elasmosaur is just one of those in the family tree.

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Alaska"s First Elasmosaur Fossil Excavated

Dr. Ehret revealed the neck vertebra belonged to Elasmosaur, a large, long-necked marine creature. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/23/u-s-12-year-old-boy-discovers-rare-fossil-of-neck-vertebra-during-museum-expedition-in-greene-county-123/

Aiden Taylor, a 12-year-old boy from Bay Minette, Alabama, made a discovery of a lifetime when he found a rare fossil of a neck vertebra at the University of Alabama’s Museum Expedition.

Young Paleontologist’s Surprise Discovery of Neck Vertebra

While on the 37th Annual Museum Expedition camp hosted by the University of Alabama in the second week of June, Bay Minette middle school student Aiden Taylor uncovered a rare fossil from a large reptile over 80 million years old. The 12-year-old Alabamian reportedly found the fossil on the first day of the expedition.

The fossil was examined by the museum’s Curator of Paleontology, Dr. Dana Ehret. Dr. Ehret revealed the neck vertebra belonged to Elasmosaur, a large, long-necked marine creature.

The Many Vertebrae of the Long-necked Elasmosaur

During the late Cretaceous period, the massive Elasmosaur weighed nearly two tons and growing to be about 46 feet long. Elasmosaurs had the longest necks of all plesiosaurs. Had it been fully intact, Taylor’s find would have been one of between 32 and 76 neck vertebrae.

It also had paddled front and hind limbs. The huge leviathans used these massive paddled limbs to slowly power through the Western Interior Sea, which in that time extended all the way up through Alabama and much of the central states.

Elasmosaur Neck Vertebra is a Rare Find in Alabama

Alabama, having been covered by water in the late Cretaceous period, is abundant in marine fossils. However, what makes this particular find unique is that while mosasaurs are quite prevalent in the area, elasmosaurs were not as numerous. Researchers speculate that the mosasaurs, which were giant marine lizards related to modern snakes, out-competed the less agile elasmosaurs in the local area of what would be Alabama.

Interestingly enough, the vertebra belonged to the same specimen uncovered by another student, Noah Traylor, in the same area two years prior. Traylor, now 16 and working as a volunteer for the middle school expedition, was there to witness Taylor’s discovery.

Paleontologists at the University of Alabama are hopeful for more finds in the upcoming years in future expeditions. For now, the fossil has been sent to the school’s Paleontology Lab to be put on display.

U.S.: 12-year-old Boy Discovers Rare Fossil of Neck Vertebra during Museum Expedition in Greene County