Nessie Might Have Lived in Scotland: Substance to the Myth?
Well it’s come to my attention that the legend of the Loch Ness monster might be somewhat based on fact. It seems that from a fossil discovered on the riverbed of an ancient African water course such creatures might have lived in freshwater. The rub is of course that the fossil is about 100 million years old and Loch Ness itself is only 10,000 years old. The telltale fossils of the prehistoric monster were found in a 100 million-year-old river system in Morocco's Sahara Desert. Which, of course means that the beasties were able to live in outside of salt water, though it’s a stretch these days to imagine the Sahara as a place of running rivers, trees and greenness everywhere. See my picture with its wealth of green.
A Plausible Creature
The latest finding come from a team at the University of Bath whose researchers said it was "plausible" that a plesiosaur could have survived in the Scottish loch, before adding that the last plesiosaurs had died out along with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Personally I’m not sure if that helps a case for Nessie existing. And these were not huge creatures, the adult find was only 3m or 10ft long and a baby was only 1.5 metres long in this dried up riverbed from the Cretaceous period. Any such beast in the loch would be easy to miss, in this enormous area of water.
Don’t Flip Out!
As we all know marine animals can get lost and stranded in rivers and estuaries, but this find in the Sahara doesn’t suggest the creatures were lost, as there were so many of them. It seems that the most probable story is that plesiosaurs were able to tolerate both fresh and salt water. We’ve known about Plesiosaurs since the early 19th century when Mary Anning from Lyme Regis first discovered the bones of the creatures in the Jurassic rocks near her home town. The Plesiosaurs had small heads, long necks, and four long flippers. So now the myth says that Nessie could have survived in the freezing waters of Ness, but only a diehard romantic, or tourist board chief can actively tell you it is so!
James Pirie Bargains No Myth
What is not a myth is our extended Summer Sale which features real bargains and quality products that you don’t have to stick your neck out to get. Have a gander at these gorgeous Flower of Scotland goodies. They are on serious reductions at the mo, so don’t miss out on the money saving opportunity, they are few and far between these days.
