The Arctic Ocean was once home to a 50-foot-long, dinosaur-era marine reptile. On February 26, Norwegian scientists reported that the fossil found on the archipelago of Svalbard is a new species and larger than the previous pliosaur record-holder found in Australia.

Paleontologist Joern Hurum said that a small car could fit in the reptile’s mouth, surrounded by jagged, dagger-like teeth. Pliosaurs were the top predators in the sea. Team members, who excavated the fossil in temperatures hovering around freezing and on the watch for polar bears, called their find simply “The Monster.”

The Natural History Museum in Oslo plans to return to the area this year to excavate a skull and skeleton of another pliosaur found near The Monster. The finds indicate that pliosaurs inhabited the northern seas during the Jurassic era. Svalbard may have one of the richest accumulations of marine-reptile fossils in the world.