Nessie!

The average skeptic might be unaware why Nessie, the monster of Loch Ness, would hold a place on Picture the Dinosaur, but those of us who have spent years, months, or even a few hours of down-time reading about the origins of the Nessie legends know that a leading theory for believers is that the monster of the Loch Ness is no such thing – that “she” is simple a remnant of another age – missed by the slow and steady current of evolution. Some people believe the beast roaming around in the murky waters of Loch Ness is a dinosaur.

To be exact, people think she is a Plesiosaur, which is not technically a dinosaur, although it is often grouped with dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs were a marine reptile that thrived in the Triassic and Cretaceous periods. Although common thought holds that all Plesiosaurs went extinct the K-T extinction event, some theories hold that as the loch separated from the ocean, a family of Plesiosaurs were trapped and made a home in the loch’s deep waters and caves.

Legends surrounding Nessie can be traced to the year 565AD and continue on to today, with reported sightings as recent as June of 2011. Legends have inspired an entire industry of tourism in Inverness and other Scottish towns which border the loch, as well as a multitude of books, movies and spottings in popular culture. The “dinosaurs missed by evolution” genre gets a major boost by Nessie believers.

Some folks really think that Plesiosaurs are still out there. For instance, people are still talking about the carcass that was found in 1977 by a fishing ship that looked a little bit like a Plesiosaur. It wasn’t one. Another fun-fact about Plesiosaurs - the newly discovered fossil of a pregnant Plesiosaur suggests the creatures may have given birth to live young.

We are thinking about you, Nessie.