Sir David Attenborough's thrilled after 'one in a billion' dinosaur discovery in UK

Sir David Attenborough is thrilled after the 'one in a billion' dinosaur discovery in the UK.

Earlier this year, a giant skull was found in the cliffs of Dorset – the head of the giant Pliosaur nicknamed the Tyrannosaurus rex of the seas.

Speaking of the incredible find, the 97-year-old said: “Pliosaurs were the biggest and most formidable hunters in the Jurassic seas – the marine equivalent, you might say, of T-rex.

"The skull of this one is, by itself, over two metres long and armed with massive fangs."

On Monday (1 January), BBC viewers will be treated to a closer look at the fossil as Attenborough investigates the discovery in a special new documentary.

The broadcaster was told about the discovery by a friend on the Jurassic Coast and quickly rang Executive Producer Mike Gunton to say: “We ought to be doing this.”

Within a week, Attenborough and the team were in Dorset ready for the skull to be excavated and document the ‘discovery of a lifetime’.

BBC Studios

The synopsis for the documentary reads: “Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster will combine ground-breaking science, fascinating natural history with gripping storytelling, and state-of-the-art CGI to explore the tale of the most formidable predator of the Jurassic world…one that hunted in the seas just off the coast of Britain!”

Chatting ahead of the show’s release, Attenborough explains he’s been ‘passionate about collecting fossils since he was a kid’ and found his first when he was just eight.

It was decided during excavation to go for the skull as the body is ‘about the size of a London bus’, and ‘extends into the cliff’.

BBC Studios

Attenborough was quickly impressed by the ‘sheer scale’ of the skull and admitted to asking an expert: “Now, supposing Tyrannosaurus rex met this extraordinary pliosaur, who would win?”

Turns out, it would probably by ‘this pliosaur’.

The biologist was also asked why it’s important we study extinct animals: “Knowledge can’t have a cash value. Facts don't have cash values. It's just part of life. To know your imagination of the different worlds that once existed, it’s enriching and makes you more appreciative of the fact that you’re alive.

“The evidence goes back for all these millions of years and that’s part of the meaning of life really.”

Attenborough also admitted: “Oh I would like to meet one, I must say. But if it was on the other side of a river…”

Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster will air on BBC One and iPlayer at 8pm on New Year’s Day.