It’s not unusual for fossil hunters to have a certain amount of success along the South Carolina coast. Almost exactly a year ago, an eight-year-old boy made the national news after finding a massive shark tooth fossil, just this week Myrtle Beach’s WPDE featured an 80,000-year-old fossilized beach that is exposed during low tide, and if you’re to believe the local Single-A minor league baseball team, there’s a new fossil in town.
The team released a tongue-in-cheek press release detailing a discovery by their grounds crew behind Pelicans Ballpark, the “fossilized remains of a majestic creature,” confirmed by a five-year old dinosaur enthusiast as belonging to Pelisaurus Rex, a distant relative of the modern pelican.
All of this is precursor to the team’s announcement that they’ll adopt a temporary alternate identity this weekend as the Pelisaurus Rex. Per the team:
Following the discovery, the Pelicans’ creative team took on the task of designing an on-field jersey that would capture the essence of the Pelisaurus Rex. While the true colors of the Pelisaurus Rex are unknown, the consultant believes the flightless creature fully embodied a brightly colored beach lifestyle. In order to recreate the spirit of the Pelisaurus Rex, the vibrant jersey design showcases neon blue, green, and yellow colors. The design also features the Pelisaurus Rex wordmark alongside a rendering of the dinosaur on the chest.
The Pelisaurus Rex will take the field Friday, August 25, as a part of “Ed’s Dinosaurs Live Night” against the Kannapolis CannonBallers