[ad_1]
A rare discovery comes from Colombia: Scientists have identified for the first time a species of flat-toothed shark that lived millions of years ago.
This species, ‘Strophodus rebecae’ was found in the municipality of Zapatoca, in the northeast of the country. Studies show that the 4 to 5 meter tall shark had teeth that resembled domino stones.
They were used to crush food, instead of cutting and tearing it as is the case with sharks today. For this discovery, paleontologists Edwin Cadena, from the Universidad del Rosario, and Jorge Carrillo, from the University of Zurich in Switzerland, worked for almost ten years.
“It’s a new species of shark that lived in South America almost 135 million years ago. It is the first time such a thing is recorded in the southern hemisphere of our planet. Its teeth are very well preserved, and their composition allowed us to define it as a new species. “This group of sharks is very different from those of today, because they have completely flat teeth, so adapted to a diet that is mainly chewing and not cutting.” said Edwin Cadena, paleontologist at Universidad del Rosario.
The discovery provides an opportunity to study what the ecosystem in Colombian seas was like some time ago, and these sharks are considered to have played an important role in it, as with their teeth they could chew prey like fish, but also invertebrates, while on the other hand they served as prey for the large reptiles that were in that environment.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
