British scientists have found fossils of small plesiosaurs that could stack up the existence of the Loch Ness Monster.
Researchers at the University of Bath discovered fossils of small plesiosaurs, which are long-necked marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, in a 100 million-year-old river system that is now Morocco's Sahara Desert, Independent reports.
The discovery suggests the Loch Ness Monster may have lived in freshwater.
Loch Ness Monster lovers have believed for a long time that the historic Scottish folklore could be a prehistoric reptile with a small head and long neck, similar to a plesiosaur.
But critics argue that plesiosaurs could not have lived in Loch Ness as the reptile needed a saltwater environment.
The findings, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, suggest the plesiosaurs were adapted to tolerate freshwater and could have possibly spent their lives there.
The discovered fossils include bones and teeth from three-metre-long adults and an arm bone from a 1.5-metre-long baby.
Co-author David Martill said he was amazed at some of the findings.
"The ancient Moroccan river contained so many carnivores all living alongside each other," Martill said.
"This was no place to go for a swim."
In a statement from the University of Bath, it said the new discovery shows that the Loch Ness Monster was "on one level, plausible."
