Plesiosaur (Thililua longicollis). Skull, neck... Lot 43

Plesiosaur (Thililua longicollis). Skull, neck and part of the shoulders, about 100 million years old, Morocco Fossil 130x125x55 cm Provenance: market (Italy) Conservation status. Surface area: 80%. Conservation status. Support: 60% (partial condition but good preservation of the remaining part, consolidation) The name "Thililua" is derived from that of an ancient aquatic god in local Berber mythology; the adjective "longicollis" refers to the animal's long neck. Thililua has been found in Late Cretaceous (early Turonian) rocks in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, North Africa. Type Thililua is the first polycotylid plesiosaur discovered in Africa, and also the first discovered that lived at a subtropical latitude. It had 30 vertebrae and could grow to a length of 5.5-6 meters. Plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles. They appeared at the end of the Triassic period, about 203 million years ago, and became especially common during the Jurassic period, thriving until they disappeared due to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution and some species inhabited at least partly freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossilized reptiles discovered. The legend of the Lock Ness monster, Nessie, alludes to a freshwater animal with the features of the long-necked plesiosaur: sightings describe, visible out of the water, the portion of the head and neck corresponding to the fossil at auction. The fossil comes from Asla, in the Goulmima region of Er-Rachidia province in southern Morocco.