A brand new species of mosasaur – an historical marine lizard from the dinosaur age – was found with shark-like enamel that gave it a lethal chew.

Xenodens calminechari, from the Cretaceous interval of Morocco, had knife-shaped enamel that had been packed collectively edge to edge to type a serrated blade and resembled these of some sharks. The sharp enamel enable the agile little mosasaur, the scale of a small porpoise, to strike over its weight, reduce fish in half, and take large bites of bigger animals.

Dr Nick Longrich, Senior Lecturer on the Milner Middle for Evolution on the College of Tub and lead creator of the article, mentioned: “66 million years in the past, the coasts of Africa had been probably the most harmful on this planet.

“The number of predators was not like anything on the planet. The brand new mosasaur joins a quickly rising checklist of identified marine reptiles from Morocco’s Late Cretaceous Interval, which on the time was submerged underneath a tropical sea.

“An excellent range of mosasaurs lived right here. Some had been large, deep-diving predators like trendy sperm whales, others with big enamel and as much as ten meters in size, had been outstanding predators like orcas, nonetheless others ate crustaceans like trendy sea otters – after which there have been the odd little Xenodens.

“They coexisted with long-necked plesiosaurs, large sea turtles and saber-toothed fish. The brand new mosasaur provides one other harmful predator to the combination.”

The invention additionally provides to the variety of marine reptiles on the finish of the Cretaceous. This implies that their range peaked simply earlier than an asteroid struck 66 million years in the past, wiping out marine reptiles and dinosaurs.

“We’re nonetheless studying how numerous the mosasaurs had been,” Longrich mentioned. “And each time we predict we have figured them out, one other one comes alongside.”

Wildlife lived 1,000,000 years earlier than an asteroid struck Earth on the finish of the Cretaceous Interval, ending the reign of the dinosaurs and wiping out no less than 90% of all species on Earth. The nice range discovered within the new research means that the ecosystem was not in decline earlier than the asteroid struck; as an alternative, the ecosystem appears to recommend that marine reptiles had been increasing in range earlier than they abruptly disappeared.

The enamel seen in Xenodens don’t resemble these of another reptile. However Dr Longrich, who labored on rising fishing boats in Alaska, had seen one thing comparable earlier than.

He mentioned: “It jogged my memory of the enamel within the jaws of the sleeper sharks that we might typically catch whereas fishing for halibut on my brother’s boat. I keep in mind seeing what these sharks may do – they’d carve big bolts of flesh within the halibut, virtually chopping them in half. “

The authors recommend that, like sleeper sharks and associated fruit bat sharks, the bizarre jaws allowed the animal to strike above its weight, slicing small fish in half, slicing bigger items of prey, and will -be even recovering the carcasses of huge marine reptiles. .

However somewhat than being an excessive specialist, the enamel seemingly let Xenodens eat an enormous vary of prey – “They’re just like the knives offered in these outdated late-night TV commercials – they’re going to slice something,” Longrich mentioned. .

Anne Schulp, researcher on the Naturalis Biodiversity Middle in Leiden and professor of paleontology on the College of Utrecht, and creator of the article, mentioned: “I’m blown away by the brand new discovery.

“I have been engaged on intently associated mosasaurs for a decade or two now, and Xenodens exhibits that this group has been profitable in tapping into an alternate meals supply. They’ve clearly been much more profitable than we thought.”

Dr Nathalie Bardet from the Muséum Nationwide d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris declared: “I’ve been engaged on mosasaurs for over 20 years and extra significantly on these of the Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco that I do know. I’ve to confess that among the many ten species that I do know, this one has such uncommon and extraordinary dentition that in the first place I assumed it was a “chimera” reconstructed with totally different fossils! “

Dr Nour-Eddine Jalil of the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past in Paris and Cadi Ayyad College in Marrakech, mentioned: “A shark-toothed mosasaur is a brand new adaptation of mosasaurs so shocking that it appeared like a creature. improbable out of the creativeness of an artist.

“Xenodens calminechari is additional proof of the extraordinary paleobiodiversity of the Phosphate Sea.

“It’s as if nature was struggling to seek out all of the mixtures for an ever finer exploitation of meals sources.”