BOZEMAN, Mont., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- An amateur fossil collector has discovered the remains of a sea monster believed to be approximately 70 million years old.
The skull and lower jaw represent the first complete skull of a long-necked plesiosaur found in Montana, Montana State University experts said in a release. The skull is said to be one of the best specimens of its kind discovered in North America.
Ken Olson of Lewistown, Mont., a retired Lutheran pastor who has long collected fossils for the Museum of the Rockies, said he and his son found the fossils in August about 75 miles northeast of Lewistown, the release said. The fossils are from extinct animals that lived in a seaway that once existed where Montana is today.
The skull is expected to be displayed next year at the museum in an exhibit entitled "Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky" that's to open in mid-June.
