Meet the marine reptile with an ‘arsenal of teeth’: Huge swordfish-like creature roamed the waters of what is now Colombia 130 million years ago, study finds
The creature’s fossil was unearthed north of Villa de Leyva back in the 1970s
It has a ‘stunningly’ preserved skull, three feet in length, with varied teeth
The specimen belongs to an order of marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs
Experts from McGill have revealed that its genus was previously misclassified
They have now renamed the large-mouthed creature as ‘Kyhytysuka sachicarum’
Kyhytysuka means ‘the one that cuts with something sharp’ in a local language
A huge, swordfish-like creature with a veritable ‘arsenal of teeth’ swam the shallow waters of what is today Colombia some 130 million years ago, a study has found.
Researchers from McGill University reanalysed fossilised remains that were unearthed near Villa de Leyva in Colombia’s Boyacá department back in the 1970s.
The specimen has a stunningly preserved, 3-feet-long skull, and is an ichthyosaur, an order of marine reptiles that lived from 250–90 million years ago.
In 1997, experts assigned the fossil to the genus platypterygius, a grouping some have said is a ‘wastebasket’ taxon used to classify species that don’t fit elsewhere.
Yet fresh study of the skull, which is held in the Colombian National Geological Museum in Bogotá, has revealed that it belongs to a new genus — ‘Kyhytysuka’.
The revelation, the team said, is helping to refine our understanding of the ichthyosaur family tree and how its members evolved.
The study of Kyhytysuka was undertaken by vertebrate palaeontologist Hans Larsson, of Canada’s McGill University, and his colleagues.
‘This animal evolved a unique dentition that allowed it to eat large prey,’ Professor Larsson explained.
‘Whereas other ichthyosaurs had small, equally sized teeth for feeding on small prey, this new species modified its tooth sizes and spacing to build an arsenal of teeth for dispatching large prey, like big fishes and other marine reptiles.’
For example, while Kyhytysuka’s front-most teeth were long and slender, and optimised to grip smaller prey, the saw-toothed dentition further into the jaw seemed to have evolved to shear the creature’s victims.
Meanwhile, Kyhytysuka’s back set of teeth were short and robust, suggesting they were used to crush prey — a conclusion supported by the reinforced connection between the brain-case and skull bone hints at an increased bite force.
Furthermore, the team’s analysis indicated that, while the marine reptile would have been unable to move its jaws much side-to-side, it could open its mouth to a colossal gape of 75°, which would have allowed it to swallow very large prey.
Source: Daily mail
Scientists rethink co-evolution of marine life, oxygenated oceans
Meet the marine reptile with an ‘arsenal of teeth’: Huge swordfish-like creature roamed the waters of what is now Colombia 130 million years ago, study finds