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The initial discovery was made by Philip Jacobs, a textile designer who has searched for marine reptile fossils on the Jurassic coast for decades.
After finding the fossil, Jacobs contacted Steve Etches, from The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life, and said: “I’ve just found something quite extraordinary.“
Using a drone, Jacobs and Etches located the spot on the cliff face where the fossil was and assembled a team of palaeontologists, climbers and BBC cameramen to begin the extraction process.
Etches said: “It was very exciting but, thinking logistically, not a good place to collect a fossil from. The cliffs are sheer, crumbling and unsafe, eroding quickly. It’s a very dangerous area – with large rockfalls and slippery ledges – so safety was paramount.”
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The team believes the entire pliosaur may be inside the cliff, but for now are focused on the skull, which can reveal more about an animal than any other part of its skeleton.
It has survived in exceptional condition and is thought to be the best preserved and most complete of any pliosaur discovered to date.
The skull will be displayed at The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life after the documentary airs.
The Telegraph, London
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