Human beings have been letting their imagination run wild as far as what sort of monsters are lurking in the deep for a long time.

That said, I’m not sure any of us imagined anything quite as big as this.

This 150-million-year-old pliosaur, discovered 39 feet up in a Jurassic Coast cliff, stunned us in 2023.

A pliosaur is an ancient marine reptile with a bite force at least as strong as that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Now, it’s found its way into the Guinness Book of World Records.

They call it a “SeaRex,” and the skull is 95% complete by surface area – the most complete of its kind in the world. Nearly all of the original bones are present, including 130 interlocked spiky teeth.

Pliosaur expert Dr. Judyth Sassoon explained more about what makes it so special.

“I have studied many Kimmeridgian pliosaurs but have never seen one that is quite so well preserved as this. It contains a lot of anatomical details in a single specimen that are only found partially preserved in other specimens.”

Fossil enthusiast Phil Jacobs discovered the skull on a beach in Dorset, then sent it to Steve Etches, the proprietor of the Etches Collection.

The skull will go on display there, and Etches has been on the team the entire time.

“We put a drone up and scanned all the way along the cliff, and then found what looked to be the rest of it stuck out. We needed to confirm that, so that meant a trip down the cliff on ropes to actually go down and see it. From there, we realized that it was preserved upside down and that was the reason it looked so weird.”

It was a huge ask to get the 6-foot skull out of the cliff – enough so that even Sir David Attenborough was impressed.

“That is one of the biggest skulls you’ve ever seen. I mean, it’s huge and so although I was aware of the tip that was first discovered I hadn’t fully appreciated how big the whole head would be and it’s enormous. Sheer scale was what first impressed me.”

One of the scientists involved, Andre Rowe, says the fossil is “one in a billion.”

The skull is now on display at the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge, Dorset, where Etches is also taking donations to try and go back to see if the rest of the skeleton could be nearby.

“The rest of the body is there, I’m sure. It’s slightly disarticulated, so it’s come apart, but it’s all there.”

I’m sure they’ll go in and find the rest of it soon.

I’m equally sure the size of it will blow us all away.

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