Most mosasaurs had two bladelike, serrated ridges on the front and back of the tooth to assist cut victim, however Stelladens had anywhere from 4 to six of these blades running down the tooth. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
The majority of mosasaurs had 2 bladelike, serrated ridges on the front and back of the tooth to assist cut victim, however, Stelladens had anywhere from 4 to six of these blades running down the tooth.
” Its a surprise,” stated Dr. Nick Longrich from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, who led the study. “Its not like any mosasaur, or any reptile, even any vertebrate weve seen before.”
Dr. Nathalie Bardet, a marine reptile professional from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, stated: “Ive worked on the mosasaurs of Morocco for more than 20 years, and I d never seen anything like this in the past– I perplexed both was and impressed!”
That a number of teeth were discovered with the same shape recommends their strange shape was not the outcome of an anomaly or a pathology.
Stelladens mysteriosus is approximated to be around 4 meters in length, roughly double the size of a dolphin. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
The distinct teeth recommend a specialized feeding method, or a specialized diet, but it remains unclear simply what Stelladens ate.
Dr. Longrich stated: “We have no idea what this animal was eating since we dont understand of anything alive either comparable today or from the fossil record.
” Its possible it found a special method to feed, or possibly it was filling an environmental niche that just does not exist today. The teeth look like the tip of a Phillips-head screwdriver, or possibly a hex wrench.
” So whats it consuming? Who understands.”
The fossils were found in phosphate mines in Sidi Chennane, south Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
The teeth were little, but stout and with wear on the suggestions, which appeared to rule out soft-bodied victim. The teeth werent strong enough to squash heavily armored animals like clams or sea urchins, however.
” That may appear to suggest its eating something little, and lightly armored– thin-shelled ammonites, shellfishes, or bony fish– but its hard to know,” stated Longrich. “There were weird animals living in the Cretaceous- ammonites, belemnites, baculites– that no longer exist. Its possible this mosasaur ate something and inhabited a specific niche, that merely doesnt exist anymore, and that may discuss why nothing like this is ever seen again.
” Evolution isnt always predictable. Sometimes it goes off in an unique instructions, and something develops thats never been seen before, and then it never evolves again.”
Tooth fossils of Stelladens mysteriosus. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
The mosasaurs lived along with dinosaurs however werent dinosaurs. Rather, they were huge lizards, family members of Komodo iguanas, snakes, and dragons, adapted for life at sea.
Mosasaurs developed around 100 million years ago and diversified as much as 66 million years back, when a giant asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, plunging the world into darkness.
Researchers have debated the function of environmental changes towards the end of the Cretaceous in the termination, Stelladens, along with current discoveries from Morocco, recommends that mosasaurs were developing rapidly up to the very end– they went out at their peak, rather than fading away.
The new study shows that even after years of work in the Cretaceous of Morocco, brand-new types are continuing to be found. The reason may be that the majority of species are rare.
Synthetic stratigraphic column of the Late Cretaceous– Paleogene phosphatic series in the Oulad Abddoun Basin of Morocco, revealing position of Stelladens mysteriosus. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
The authors of the research study anticipate that in a really diverse ecosystem, it might take decades to find all of the rare types.
” Were not even close to discovering whatever in these beds,” said Longrich, “This is the third new types to appear, simply this year. The amount of variety at the end of the Cretaceous is just staggering.”
Nour-Eddine Jalil, a professor at the Natural History Museum and a scientist at Univers Cadi Ayyad in Morocco, stated: “The fauna has produced an amazing variety of surprises– mosasaurs with teeth organized like a saw, a turtle with a snout in the form of snorkel, a plethora of vertebrates of various shapes and sizes, and now a mosasaur with star-shaped teeth.
” We would state the works of an artist with an overflowing imagination.
” Moroccos sites provide an unequaled image of the amazing biodiversity right before the terrific crisis of the end of the Cretaceous.”
Reference: “Stelladens mysteriosus: A Strange New Mosasaurid (Squamata) from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Morocco” by Nicholas R. Longrich, Nour-Eddine Jalil, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola and Nathalie Bardet, 17 May 2023, Fossils.DOI: 10.3390/ fossils1010002.
Illustration of how Stelladens mysteriosus might have looked. Credit: Dr. Nick Longrich
Scientists have actually discovered a brand-new species of unusual mosasaur in Morocco, further showing the large diversity of these marine reptiles that existed 66 million years back.
Researchers have actually uncovered a brand-new species of mosasaur, a marine lizard from the dinosaur era, with odd, ridged teeth, unlike any recognized reptile. This discovery, in addition to other current archaeological finds from Africa, indicates that mosasaurs and other water reptiles underwent a quick stage of development up until around 66 million years back, when a catastrophic asteroid event erased these animals along with the dinosaurs and almost 90% of all species in the world.
The brand-new species, Stelladens mysteriosus, originates from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco and was around two times the size of a dolphin.
It had an unique tooth plan with blade-like ridges running down the teeth, arranged in a star-shaped pattern, reminiscent of a cross-head screwdriver.
” So whats it eating? Who understands.”
” That may appear to suggest its eating something little, and lightly armored– thin-shelled ammonites, shellfishes, or bony fish– but its tough to understand,” said Longrich. “There were unusual animals living in the Cretaceous- ammonites, belemnites, baculites– that no longer exist. Its possible this mosasaur ate something and occupied a specific niche, that simply does not exist any longer, and that might explain why absolutely nothing like this is ever seen again.