A new television documentary featuring Sir David Attenborough is due to be shown on the BBC tomorrow (New Year’s Day). Entitled “Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster”, it tells the story of the excavation of a huge pliosaur skull from the Dorset coast.

Pliosaur. Planet Dinosaur reviewed.
The life-size replica of the pliosaur (P. carpenteri) suspended from the ceiling at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Pliosaurus carpenteri was formally named and described in 2013 (Benson et al). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The image (above) shows a replica of a pliosaur on display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Scientists from Bristol University were involved in the study of this pliosaur skull. The skull likely represents a new genus of pliosaur, and at around ten metres long it was a monster!

The Giant Pliosaur Skull

Such is the preservation of the skull, that although crushed the bones remain in articulation. An accurate three-dimensional image of the fossil could be produced. From these images a three-dimensional model of the skull was made. Professor Emily Rayfield (University of Bristol) and expert in jaw biomechanics was able to use this model to estimate the bite force of this apex predator.

Based on scaling up bite force calculations from Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), a biteforce of around 32,000 newtons was calculated for the pliosaur. Although there is a margin of error to take into account with these calculations, the result represents the highest bite force estimated for a marine animal living or extinct.

The film follows Sir David Attenborough as he investigates the discovery of a lifetime. Sir David joins two of Britain’s most intrepid fossil hunters, Steve Etches and Chris Moore, as they face a race against time to excavate the fossil material from its precarious position halfway up a cliff near Kimmeridge Bay.

“Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster” is due to be shown on BBC1 at 8pm on January 1st (2024).

CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Pliosaurus marine reptile diorama.
The CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Pliosaurus model.

The image (above) shows a replica of a Pliosaurus marine reptile. It is similar in appearance to the CGI pliosaur images revealed in the documentary. The figure comes from the CollectA Deluxe range.

To view this range of scale prehistoric animal figures and models: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Models.