Scientists: Existence of Loch Ness monster ‘plausible’

The existence of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, is now “plausible.” British scientists made the assertion after finding fossils in Morocco.

Loch Ness is a lake in the Scottish Highlands. According to the local folklore, a monster, known as Nessie, lurks beneath the surface of the waters.

The first reported sighting of Nessie dates back to an Irish priest in 564. After hundreds of years of reported monster sightings, many now think Nessie, if he or she really exists, could be a prehistoric reptile similar to a plesiosaur. Up until now, critics argued that couldn’t be the case, because plesiosaurs couldn’t live in fresh water.

New evidence from the African continent, however, shows the ancient animals may have indeed lived in freshwater.

Scientists from the University of Bath published their findings this week in the journal Cretaceous Research. The findings center around fossils found in a 100-million-year-old river system in what is now Morocco’s Sahara Desert. The fossils are from adult and juvenile plesiosaurs. Scientists said the location of the fossils suggest the animals adapted to tolerate freshwater, similar to today’s river dolphins.

The fossils found at the site include bones and teeth from three-meter long adults and the arm bone of a 1.5 meter-long baby.

According to the researchers, the findings indicate plesiosaurs routinely lived and fed in freshwater along with frogs, turtles, crocodiles and the dinosaur Spinosaurus.

A press release from the university said the discovery showed the Loch Ness monster was “on one level, plausible,” but that the fossil record shows the last plesiosaur died about 66 million years ago.