This June 2015 photo provided by the University of Alaska Museum of the North, shows a close-up view of a neck vertebra from a elasmosaur fossil exposed in the cliff in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. Researchers have confirmed the discovery of a marine reptile fossil in the Talkeetna Mountains, the University of Alaska Museum of the North announced Wednesday, July 22, 2015. (Patrick Druckenmiller/University of Alaska Museum via AP)

This June 2015 photo provided by the University of Alaska Museum of the North, shows a close-up view of a neck vertebra from a elasmosaur fossil exposed in the cliff in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. Researchers have confirmed the discovery of a marine reptile fossil in the Talkeetna Mountains, the University of Alaska Museum of the North announced Wednesday, July 22, 2015. (Patrick Druckenmiller/University of Alaska Museum via AP)

Collector finds marine reptile fossil in mountains of Alaska

  • By Dan Joling
  • Wednesday, July 22, 2015 10:55pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — Researchers have confirmed the discovery of a marine reptile fossil in the Talkeetna Mountains, the University of Alaska Museum of the North announced Wednesday.

Fossil bones of an elasmosaur (ee-LAZ’-moh-sohr), a type of plesiosaur (PLEE’-see-oh-sohr), were found by Anchorage-based fossil collector Curvin Metzler.

Elasmosaurs had extremely long necks and limbs like paddles that allowed them to swim underwater, Patrick Druckenmiller, the museum’s earth science curator and a marine fossil expert, said in the announcement.

“Picture the mythical Loch Ness monster and you have a pretty good idea what it looked like,” he said.

The species lived about 70 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. The marine reptiles lived during the age of dinosaurs but are not classified as dinosaurs because they did not walk on land or fit other dinosaur criteria, museum spokeswoman Theresa Bakker said.

The fossils are the first from an elasmosaur in Alaska.

Over several years, Metzler found vertebrae eroding from a bluff. Metzler, Druckenmiller and two others visited the site in June, identified the source of the bones and collected much of the skeleton.

Druckenmiller has collected plesiosaurs from all other parts of western North America and in 2010 led a team that collected a nearly complete elasmosaur skeleton from Montana. The skeleton is on display at the museum in Fairbanks.

“I was really excited the first time Curvin showed me one of its bones,” Druckenmiller said. “I recognized it as a vertebra from the base of the animal’s neck and wanted to visit the site to see if we could find more. Based on the size of the bones we excavated, the animal should be at least 25 feet long.”

The fossils were halfway up a 60-foot cliff.

“We got a good chunk of the animal, but there is still more to excavate,” Druckenmiller said.

Two other ancient marine reptile fossils have been identified in Alaska: a dolphin-like ichthyosaur found in the Brooks Range and southeast, and the thalattosaur, which looked like a long lizard with a flattened tail, discovered near Kake.

More in News

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna OKs $395,000 capital plan

This year’s list of capital projects is “nominal compared to some past years,” according to officials.

A map of areas proposed for annexation by the City of Soldotna. (Provided by City of Soldotna)
Soldotna adds annexation proposal to ballot

The proposed annexation is split across five small areas around the city.

Nets are extended from North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, during the first day of the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘A really good day’

Kenai River personal use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery opens.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough assembly to consider ordinance to increase residential property tax exemption

If approved by voters in October, the ordinance would increase the tax exemption by $25,000.

Vice President Kelly Cooper speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough considers seasonal sales tax rate

Borough sales tax would be modified from a flat 3% to a seasonal model of 4% in summer months and 2% in winter months.

The Kasilof River is seen from the Kasilof River Recreation Area, July 30, 2019, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
King salmon fishing on Kasilof closes Thursday

If any king salmon is caught while fishing for other species, they may not be removed from the water and must be released immediately.

Most Read