Monster of Aramberri

As Monster of Aramberri the fragmentary fossil of a reptile is called, in 1984 by a student in the La Casita Formation ( Kimmeridgian ) was found near Aramberri in Nuevo Leon ( Mexico). It was established in 1988 first described by Hähnel as dinosaurs, but then recognized as a very large Pliosaur. It was the first discovery of a pliosaur in Mexico. Today, it is located under the inventory number UANL - FCT - R2 in the collection of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.

The size of parts of the shoulder blade and the diameter of the vortex of more than 20 cm have a length of the animal is 15 meters or more and a weight of 50 tons suspect. The animal was not fully grown at the time of his death, to the neck vertebrae find open sutures. It reached full grown probably a length of 20 meters or more. This makes it one of the largest Jurassic marine reptiles. A similar size (21 m ) reached only Shastasaurus sikanniensis, an ichthyosaur, which was discovered in 1991 on the banks of Sikanni Chief River in British Columbia.

However, recent research suggests that it could be an already full-grown or nearly adult specimen might be, and that the typical characteristics of juveniles in large Pliosauriern were probably also exist in adult animals.

The skull of the monster on the wing of Aramberri has leg on a large bite mark, which is probably derived from a 40 cm long tooth ( three times as long as the tooth of a Tyrannosaurus ) a larger conspecifics. The wing leg was only pushed apart and displays at its edges healing tissue. A second later by an attack originating wound in the skull bones, however, reported a splintered, never healed wound edge and was probably the cause of death.

The animal was just so far not identified below the family level. In the press the fossil was described as Liopleurodon or Simolestes.

The Monster of Aramberri fills a geographic gap between the Pliosauriern of South America and those of the western Tethys and supports the idea of a maritime connection between the North Atlantic and the Western America ( Pacific).