From the waters off the coast of Japan, scientists have just unveiled a jaw-dropping discovery: the fossilized remains of a 72 million-year-old "sea monster" that was likely the aquatic version of the fearsome T-rex apex predator. Researchers have dubbed the new species of mosasaur, the Wakayama Soryu, or "blue dragon," after an ocean-dwelling blue-hued dragon from Japanese mythology.
The fearsome creature, an air-breathing reptile about the size of a great white shark, had an alligator-like snout and huge flippers that scientists had not seen before. They suspect the mosasaur may have used their flippers to dive into the ocean depths and suddenly snatch their prey. "We lack any modern analog that has this kind of body morphology — from fish to penguins to sea turtles," Takuya Konishi, a vertebrate paleontologist, said in a statement. Find out more at Live Science.
Pictured above: Computer-generated 3D illustration with the prehistoric mosasaur, Tylosaurus.