The 550lb statue , submerged for some 1,600 years since that portion of the city sank beneath the waves during an earthquake, was located at the underwater site of Cleopatra's palace. Adjoining the area is what is thought to be the ruins of the Great Lighthouse at Alexandria , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The statue was removed, examined, photographed, then returned to the deep.
Officials plan to turn the site into a underwater museum sometime in the future.
And it was not fully grown. The 36 foot long animal, found in Africa, lived some 100 million years ago. It had a long snout, like a crocodile, and 16 inch long thumbs tipped with 12 inch sickle claws. The new find, now on display at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., has been designated Suchomimus tenerensis . Try a parrot.