“New Species of Mosasaurus with Screwdriver-like Teeth Discovered in Morocco”

Nationalgeographic.co.id—Paleontologists have reported the latest fossil discovery in Morocco, Africa. The fossil belongs to a mosasaurus, a sea monster that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

But unlike other mosasaurs known so far, the current fossil finds show that the sea monster had very odd serrated teeth, much like a screwdriver or drill bit.

The discovery of the sea monster fossils has been described in the journal Fossils dengan judul “Stelladens mysteriosus: A Strange New Mosasaurid (Squamata) from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Morocco.”

These findings suggest that the sea monsters mosasaurus and other marine reptiles thrived until 66 million years ago, when they were wiped out by an asteroid along with the dinosaurs and about 90% of all species on Earth.

This fossil is a new species of mosasaur with the scientific name Stelladens mysteriosus, originating from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco and about twice the size of a dolphin.

This species of sea monster has a unique arrangement of teeth with blade-like protrusions running down the teeth, arranged in a star-shaped pattern, reminiscent of a cross-head screwdriver.

Most mosasaurs had two serrated, knife-like serrated teeth on the front and back of the teeth to help cut prey. However, Stelladens have four to six blades running through the teeth.

“This was surprising,” said Dr Nick Longrich of the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath, who led the research.

“It’s unlike any mosasaur, or any reptile, not even a vertebrate that we’ve seen before.”

Dr Nathalie Bardet, a specialist in marine reptiles from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, said: “I have been working on Moroccan mosasaurs for over 20 years, and I have never seen anything like this before, I am both baffled and amazed!”