The Loch Ness monster may have indeed possibly existed and it may have swum in the seas of Alaska in the prehistoric times.
Scientists from the University of Alaska Museum of the North have discovered the fossil of a large marine reptile in Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains.
The researchers said that the creature, a type of plesiosaur characterized by paddle-like legs and a very long neck, looked pretty much like the fabled Loch Ness monster and swam in the ancient seas of Alaska in the Late Cretaceous period 70 million years ago.
The Elasmosaur had a neck measuring about 14 meters (approx. 46 feet) and used its paddle-like limbs to swim underwater the same way the Loch Ness monster has been described in tales.
Patrick Druckenmiller, the museum's marine fossil expert, said that picturing out how the mythical Loch Ness monster looks like can provide a good idea of the appearance of the newly discovered creature.
The animal weighed more than 4,409 pounds, which makes it one of the heaviest and largest plesiosaurs to have been discovered.
Although the Elasmosaur lived in the age of dinosaurs, the museum's spokesperson, Theresa Bakker, said that the ancient animal is not classified as a dinosaur because the creature did not walk on land and neither did it fit the other criteria of a dinosaur.
The newly discovered Elasmosaur is the first to be found in Alaska, and experts noted the implications of the finding. Curvin Metzler, a fossil collector from Anchorage, who found vertebrae of the skeleton, said that the fossil can provide researchers with an opportunity to learn more about plesiosaurs.
The skeleton was found about halfway up a vertical cliff, with Metzler discovering fossils of the animal eroding out of the hillside.
"I was really excited the first time Curvin showed me one of its bones," Druckenmiller said. "I recognized it as a vertebra from the base of the animal's neck and wanted to visit the site to see if we could find more. Based on the size of the bones we excavated, the animal should be at least 25 feet long."
Although Metzler, Druckenmiller and two of their colleagues were able to find the source of the bones and collect a good portion of the animal's remains, there are still more fossils to excavate. Druckenmiller said he hopes that they will be able to find the rest of the specimen by next summer.
