elasmosaur

Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur-like an elasmosaur - that somehow survived when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Researchers have uncovered the 70-million-year-old fossilized remains of a massive elasmosaur from the icy depths of Antarctica unlike anything ever seen before.

In a jacket on a table downstairs of the museum are 15 neck vertebrae still in original life position, representing about a quarter of the neck of the 50- to 60-foot elasmosaur, an extreme variety of plesiosaur.

The new species of elasmosaur is detailed in an article published Thursday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Currently being excavated by University of Alaska Museum Earth sciences curator Patrick Druckenmiller, he says about the new elasmosaur: “Picture the mythical Loch Ness monster and you have a pretty good idea what it looked like. This is an exciting find because it is the first time an elasmosaur has ever been discovered in Alaska.”