<p>Scientists have unearthed the remains of Jurassic sea predators resembling killer whales in the world's driest desert in Chile.</p>.<p>Pliosaurs were reptiles from about 160 million years ago with a more powerful bite than Tyrannosaurus rex, according to the University of Chile researchers. The fossils are the second oldest record of this species in the Southern Hemisphere.</p>.<p>Chile's vast Atacama desert, once largely submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, is now a moonscape of sand and stone with parts untouched by rain for years. Pliosaurs reined the region, with their large skull, elongated face, short neck, menacing teeth on a hydrodynamic body and fin-like limbs.</p>.<p>Scientists found jaw, tooth, and limb fragments of the creatures "ecologically similar" to killer whales at two sites in the Loa river basin near the mining city of Calama.</p>.<p>The find helps scientists fill gaps in evolution, said Rodrigo Otero, a University of Chile paleontologist who led the research.</p>.<p>The complete fossil, under excavation since 2017, is likely to measure six to seven meters (19.7 to 23 feet). The skull is around a meter (3.3 feet) long, with teeth each around eight to 10 centimeters (3.1 to 3.9 inches) long, Otero said.</p>.<p>The study was published in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences in early September.</p>
<p>Scientists have unearthed the remains of Jurassic sea predators resembling killer whales in the world's driest desert in Chile.</p>.<p>Pliosaurs were reptiles from about 160 million years ago with a more powerful bite than Tyrannosaurus rex, according to the University of Chile researchers. The fossils are the second oldest record of this species in the Southern Hemisphere.</p>.<p>Chile's vast Atacama desert, once largely submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, is now a moonscape of sand and stone with parts untouched by rain for years. Pliosaurs reined the region, with their large skull, elongated face, short neck, menacing teeth on a hydrodynamic body and fin-like limbs.</p>.<p>Scientists found jaw, tooth, and limb fragments of the creatures "ecologically similar" to killer whales at two sites in the Loa river basin near the mining city of Calama.</p>.<p>The find helps scientists fill gaps in evolution, said Rodrigo Otero, a University of Chile paleontologist who led the research.</p>.<p>The complete fossil, under excavation since 2017, is likely to measure six to seven meters (19.7 to 23 feet). The skull is around a meter (3.3 feet) long, with teeth each around eight to 10 centimeters (3.1 to 3.9 inches) long, Otero said.</p>.<p>The study was published in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences in early September.</p>