<p><strong>Packing what may be the world's biggest bite, a recently revealed "sea monster" would have given Jaws a run for its money.</strong></p><p>Put on display July 8 at the U.K.'s <a href="http://www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/">Dorset County Museum</a>, the 7.9-foot-long (2.4 meter-long) skull (pictured) belonged to a pliosaur, a type of plesiosaur that had a short neck, a huge, crocodile-like head, and razor-sharp teeth. When alive about 155 million years ago, the seagoing creature would have had a strong enough bite to snap a car in half, according to the museum.</p><p>Amateur collector Kevan Sheehan found the skull in pieces between 2003 and 2008 at the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, a 95-mile (152-kilometer) stretch of fossil-rich coastline in England. The Dorset County Council's museums service purchased the fossil, and later research by <a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2010/dec/10_135.shtml">University of Southampton</a> scientists suggests that it's the largest complete pliosaur skull ever found. (<a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2005/12/sea-monsters/sea-monsters-interactive">Explore a <em>National Geographic</em> magazine sea monsters interactive.</a>)</p><p>Yet <a href="http://paleobiology.si.edu/staff/individuals/sues.html">Hans Sues</a>, a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., cautioned in an email that it's too early to say if the skull is indeed the largest.</p><p>"Some pliosaurs are gigantic animals, and there is an unfortunate tendency to brand every new find as the largest," said Sues, who is also a contributor to the <a href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic News Watch</a> blog. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)</p><p>"However, no evidence is ever presented to support these claims, which make for good media coverage but are scientifically unwarranted."</p><p><em>—Christine Dell'Amore</em></p>