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Mystery of 'very odd' elasmosaur finally solved: One of North America's most famous fossils identified as new species

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Long-necked and measuring in at 12 meters , Traskasaura sandrae is a new genus of the sea monster.

The species name sandrarae honors Sandra Lee O'Keefe (nee Markey) and Elizabeth Nicholls who identified the fossils in 2002 .

The fossils were discovered in 1988 along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island .

Traskasaura would have been a good candidate for crushing ammonite shells.

All three individuals show diagnostic features of the new taxon, and therefore probably represent a single species.

The team says their hypothesis that the three individuals describe do not belong to the same taxon "does deserve consideration".