A team of researchers in Alaska has successfully unearthed the fossils of a plesiosaur species called elasmosaur. The researchers said that the marine giant reptile lived approximately 80.5 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous.

As per researchers, plesiosaurs have been prehistoric creatures that belonged to a group of marine reptiles that lived within the historic oceans and seas of the Mesozoic interval, more than 200 million years ago.

Scientific community does not consider plesiosaurs as dinosaurs, as they did not walk on land. This new species was first found in 1821 and further analysis showed that the creatures were warm-blooded and instead of laying eggs they gave birth to their offspring.

Researchers noted that these animals with the plesiosauromorph build had extremely long necks and small heads, and were believed to be relatively slow moving animals.

As per experts, Alaska has also been home of two distinct finds, the first being a long lizard-like reptile with a flattened tail known as a thalattosaur. This creature was uncovered on the shores of the Thongass National Forest southeast of Juneau.

The other species was of an ichthyosaur, which resembles a modern dolphin, was discovered in the Brooks Range, located in the northernmost reaches of the state.

The earth sciences curator at University of Alaska Museum of the North said in a release that common food of these creatures consisted of very large prey and they looked very much like the mythical Loch Ness monster.

Curvin Metzler, an Alaskan archaeologist and fossil collector Druckenmiller and two of their colleagues were able to find the source of the bones and collect a good portion of the animal's remains. They said that there are more fossils to excavate.