It is in the heart of the Andes Cordillera of Colombia that a team of paleontologists discovered a 127 million year old fossil of a plesiosaur, a marine reptile.
During the Lower Cretaceous (-145.5 to -65.5 million years ago) lived a marine reptile, the plesiosaur. This Wednesday, March 8, 2017, the geological service of Colombia announced the discovery of a fossil of this 127 million year old reptile by a team of paleontologists.
The discovery of this fossil presented by the Colombian geological service as » unique in the world was carried out over the past week near the tourist town of Villa de Leyva, three hours from the capital, Bogota. With an estimated size of between six and eight meters in length, the fossil was unearthed by specialists from the José Royo Geological Museum.
During the Lower Cretaceous, this area near Villa de Leyva was occupied by a sea where abundant forms of life thrived. » This type of discovery is of great scientific importance since it is unique in the world with regard to the geological age to which it belongs. “, specifies the Colombian geological service in a press release.
The fossilized remains of this 127 million year old marine reptile will be definitively extracted from the ground by Monday, March 13. The geological service announces that after this definitive extraction, it will communicate on this discovery as well as on the obvious need to protect and safeguard the geological and paleontological heritage of Colombia.