"Unearthing Japan's Unprecedented 72 Million-Year-Old 'Blue Dragon'"

Scientists in Japan have discovered the near-complete remains of a 72 million-year-old sea monster, named "blue dragon," that belonged to a new species of mosasaur. The fossils, the most complete ever found in Japan and the northwest Pacific, reveal an unusual body plan with large rear flippers and a dorsal fin, setting it apart from other mosasaurs. The creature, about the size of a great white shark, challenges our understanding of how mosasaurs swam and hunted, and highlights the diversity of these apex marine predators that lived during the Cretaceous period.