Plesiosaurs, first present in 1823 by fossil hunter Mary Anning, had been prehistoric reptiles with small heads, lengthy necks, and 4 lengthy flippers. They impressed reconstructions of the Loch Ness Monster, however not like the monster of Lake Loch Ness, plesiosaurs had been marine animals—or had been broadly regarded as.

Now, scientists from the College of Bathtub and College of Portsmouth within the U.Ok., and Université Hassan II in Morocco, have reported small plesiosaurs from a Cretaceous-aged river in Africa.

The fossils embrace bones and tooth from three-meter lengthy adults and an arm bone from a 1.5 meter lengthy child. They trace that these creatures routinely lived and fed in freshwater, alongside frogs, crocodiles, turtles, fish, and the massive aquatic dinosaur Spinosaurus.