Mar 6, 2024 at 7:51 PM Update: 11 minutes ago
Scientists have discovered fossils of a new species of sea lizard that lived in the oceans about 66 million years ago. Khinjaria acuta was as long as an orca and had razor-sharp teeth. The sea lizard lived in the time of the dinosaurs.
Researchers discovered the new species in a phosphate mine in Morocco. There they found a skull and other parts of a sea lizard skeleton.
The huge jaws and sharp teeth gave Khinjaria acuta a terrifying appearance, the researchers say. The sea lizard was about 7 meters long.
It was one of the many predators that lived in the seas around present-day Morocco at the time. Scientists have often found remains of prehistoric sea animals there.
The researchers were surprised to find a new predator from that period at that location. “The seas around Morocco seemed too densely populated to have room for a new game animal,” wrote Nick Longrich of the University of Bath, who was the lead researcher on the study, in his own site. “But we’re still discovering new species.”
Marine life around Morocco was very diverse
Scientists suspect that the biodiversity in the seas around Morocco was much greater than now. “It is remarkable how many different predators lived in the sea,” Longrich writes.
Many of those animals, including Khinjaria acuta, belong to the mosasaur group. “Their teeth are all different shapes, which they use in different ways. Khinjaria acuta has teeth that resemble sharp daggers.”
Khinjaria acuta got its name because of these dangerous teeth. Khinjar is the Arabic word for “dagger” and acute means “sharp” in Latin. The species is literally called “sharp knife”.
The animal most likely became extinct after the impact of a meteorite in what is now Mexico. The impact led to the end of the era of dinosaurs on land and mosasaurs in the sea.
Beeld: Andrey Atuchin / University of Bath
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2024-03-06 18:51:42
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