Hasta La Ideas

The fossils of a plesiosaur (a marine reptile with a long neck and four long flippers, that existed in the Mesozoic era) found in a 100-million-year-old riverbed in Morocco’s Sahara Desert contribute to the theory that “saltwater sea creatures may have lived in freshwater systems.” Remarkably, researchers at the University of Bath have applied this theory to Loch Ness and its fantastical monster, Nessie, telling the BBC that the idea of a plesiosaur  surviving in the famed Scottish lake might have been “plausible”—but noting that they did become extinct some 66 million years ago. Read more about the discovery and what it means at the BBC.

Image courtesy of Dr Nick Longrich