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'Monster' Arctic reptile remains found
AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/4/07 | AP

Posted on 12/04/2007 12:49:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge

OSLO, Norway - Remains of a bus-sized prehistoric "monster" reptile found on a remote Arctic island may be a new species never before recorded by science, researchers said Tuesday.

Initial excavation of a site on the Svalbard islands in August yielded the remains, teeth, skull fragments and vertebrae of a reptile estimated to measure nearly 40 feet long, said Joern Harald Hurum of the University of Oslo.

"It seems the monster is a new species," he told The Associated Press.

The reptile appears be the same species as another sea predator whose remains were found nearby on Svalbard last year. His team described those 150-million-year-old remains as belonging to a short-necked plesiosaur measuring more than 30 feet — "as long as a bus ... with teeth larger than cucumbers."

The short-necked plesiosaur was a voracious reptile often compared to the Tyrannosaurus rex of the oceans.

Mark Evans, a plesiosaur expert at the Leicester City Museums in Britain, said he not know enough about the Norwegian find to comment on it specifically. But he said new types of the sea reptiles are being found regularly.

"We are regularly seeing new species of plesiosaurs popping up — in a way because, in the past 10 or 15 years, there has been what we call a renaissance in plesiosaur research," Evans said by telephone.

Hurum said the team had only managed to excavate a 3-meter (yard) area of the find. The Norwegian-led team plans to present more detailed findings early next year, and return to Svalbard, 300 miles north of Norway's mainland, to excavate further next year.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: arctic; catastrophism; godsgravesglyphs; monster; plesiosaur; remains; reptile
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1 posted on 12/04/2007 12:49:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

Reptile = cold blooded, ie, can’t live in a cold climate.

Global warming or cooling?


2 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:00 PM PST by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: NormsRevenge
Hmmmm - and since reptiles can only live where it is warm (they are cold blooded) - it means there was global warming (and cooling) millions of years ago!!!!
3 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:09 PM PST by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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http://www.nhm.uio.no/pliosaurus/english/index.html

NATURHISTORISK MUSEUM

4 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:28 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
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To: NormsRevenge

Leviathan, is that you?


5 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:33 PM PST by madison10
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To: NormsRevenge

It’s an old species that died out. It’s what happens in nature. It wasn’t hit by an SUV!!


6 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:44 PM PST by Sacajaweau ("The Cracker" will be renamed "The Crapper")
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To: NormsRevenge

Start the Teddy and Helen Thomas jokes.


7 posted on 12/04/2007 12:50:48 PM PST by garyhope (It's World War IV, right here, right now, courtesy of Islam.)
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more than a year ago..

Remains of Ancient Reptile Are Found [size of a bus] ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1714245/posts
Posted by null and void
On News/Activism ^ 10/05/2006 8:36:14 AM PDT · 20 replies · 867+ views

MyWay via Drudge ^ | Oct 5, 7:59 AM (ET | Not attributed
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Researchers on Thursday announced the discovery of the remains of a short-necked plesiosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile the size of a bus, that they believe is the first complete skeleton ever found. The 150 million year old remains of the 33-foot ocean going predator were found in August on the remote Svalbard Islands of the Arctic, the University of Oslo announced. Fragments of plesiosaur have been found elsewhere, including in England, Russia, and Argentina, but researcher Joern Harald Hurum said the partially fossilized Svalbard find appeared to be the first whole example. “We are quite sure...

‘Monster’ fossil find in Arctic (First complete pliosaur and ichthyosaur skeletons ever found) ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1714208/posts
Posted by DaveLoneRanger
On News/Activism ^ 10/05/2006 8:03:56 AM PDT · 31 replies · 1,268+ views

BBC ^ | October 5, 2006 | Paul Rincon
Norwegian scientists have discovered a “treasure trove” of fossils belonging to giant sea reptiles that roamed the seas at the time of the dinosaurs. The 150 million-year-old fossils were uncovered on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard - about halfway between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole. The finds belong to two groups of extinct marine reptiles - the plesiosaurs and the ichthyosaurs. One skeleton has been nicknamed The Monster because of its enormous size. These animals were the top predators living in what was then a relatively cool, deep sea. Palaeontologists from the University of Oslo’s Natural History...


8 posted on 12/04/2007 12:51:52 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
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To: NormsRevenge

remains found?

Was it lost? Just the way I read the head line.


9 posted on 12/04/2007 12:52:28 PM PST by PeterPrinciple ( Seeking the truth here folks.)
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To: NormsRevenge

10 posted on 12/04/2007 12:54:39 PM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: NormsRevenge

“It seems the monster is a new species,” he told The Associated Press.

The reptile appears be the same species as another sea predator


Sounds like the journalist may be confused.


11 posted on 12/04/2007 12:54:57 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: NormsRevenge
(1) Remains of a bus-sized prehistoric "monster" reptile found on a remote Arctic island may be a new species never before recorded by science

(2) The reptile appears be the same species as another sea predator whose remains were found nearby on Svalbard last year.

The AP employs the finest writers on earth.

12 posted on 12/04/2007 12:55:17 PM PST by Fresh Wind (Scrape the bottom, vote for Rodham!)
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To: MrB
Plate Tectonics and a shift in the Earth's axis are to blame.

Evidence abounds that these animals lit all their Menorah candles and ate too much starchy beans which added to their flatulence!!!

AKA the flora fossils show a tropical setting during the time these animals roamed the wild. So the shift of the axis and plate techtonics are considerd the main factor in the remains being where they wwere found!!!

13 posted on 12/04/2007 12:56:10 PM PST by Young Werther (Julius Caesar (Quae Cum Ita Sunt. Since these things are so.))
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To: NormsRevenge

Forensic scientists speculate that Godzilla woke one morning, hit the snooze, and just didn’t get up again. The Japanese flag will be at half mast for the remainder of December.


14 posted on 12/04/2007 12:57:17 PM PST by domenad (In all things, in all ways, at all times, let honor guide me.)
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To: Sacajaweau

Yeah, Darwin’s “tree of life” turned upside down -

Cambrian explosion of species, followed by extinction of most of them.


15 posted on 12/04/2007 12:58:14 PM PST by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: PeterPrinciple

Yeah, I read “remains found” as in

they found it, so, it’s “found”, and they didn’t lose it again, so, it “remains found”.


16 posted on 12/04/2007 12:59:09 PM PST by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: thackney

Best I can figure they weren’t able to identify the first specimen completely and now find it matches the second specimen.


17 posted on 12/04/2007 12:59:58 PM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: MrB
they found it, so, it’s “found”, and they didn’t lose it again, so, it “remains found”.

thats the way i read it, too.

18 posted on 12/04/2007 1:01:45 PM PST by new cruelty
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To: 2banana
"Hmmmm - and since reptiles can only live where it is warm (they are cold blooded) - it means there was global warming (and cooling) millions of years ago!!!!

Ever hear of the H.A.B. theory?

In short, since the poles are always sub-freezing and therefore precipitation never melts, it accumulates.

Since the Earth rotates on an axis that is not perpendicular to the Sun, every 15,000 or so years the Earth "wobbles" onto it's side (like top).

So almost instantiously, the poles are moved to the equator and the equator becomes the poles.

19 posted on 12/04/2007 1:03:46 PM PST by Positive (Nothing is sadder than to see a beautiful theory murdered by a gang of brutal facts.)
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To: domenad
Rumors concerning my death are greatly exaggerated. Gotta sleep in once in a while, trashing cities can be sooooo tiring.


20 posted on 12/04/2007 1:04:21 PM PST by Godzilla (The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.)
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