In the past, there had been really large animals that existed. A number of these creatures would have been fearsome were they around today. Some of them lived even near the dinosaurs' time. A giant sea lizard has been found in 66-million-year-old rocks of Antarctica.
The giant reptile found is a type of mosasaur, which were large sea reptiles who lived alongside the dinosaurs. The new type of sea reptile has been called Kaikaifilu. It has been discovered in Antarctica, making it the largest predator found in that region.
During the time of the dinosaurs, the Antarctic had been much warmer than it is now. Mosasaurs such as the Kaikaifilu thrived in the area. Information is still few about the newly discovered mosasaur. The Kaikaifilu was around 10 meters long and lived 66 million years ago. Its skull has been measured to be 1.2 meters long.
The Kaikaifilu is related to another mosasaur, Taniwhasaurus, though it was a much earlier species, according to Science Daily. It was roughly around five million years earlier than Taniwhasaurus. It is also related to the Tylosaurus which was found in North America.
The Kaikaifilu has the scientific name Kaikaifilu hervei. Its name is derived from a mythical reptile of the Mapuche people, who lived in Chile and Argentina. It has been named also in honor of Dr. Francisco Herve, who was a well-known Chilean geologist and one of the early explorers of the Antarctic, as AlphaGalileo reports.
One of the authors of the study, Rodrigo Ortero, said that the discovery of Kaikaifilu has significance especially for the southern hemisphere. It has been noted that much of the discoveries took place in the northern hemisphere, with relatively few ones found in the southern hemisphere. Most mosasaurs in the southern region come from New Zealand. A few of them were discovered in South America and Antarctica.
Kaikaifilu most likely fed on a variety of sea creatures, as the Antarctic was much warmer then and had a more diverse ecosystem. Exploration of Antarctica continues to see if there are more than can be found, such as the giant sea lizard found in 66-million-year-old rocks of Antarctica. Earlier a fossilized dinosaur brain tissue has been analyzed.
