Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaurus with unusually shaped teeth that resemble a Phillips screwdriver. Reported by the University of Bath.
representative of the aforementioned species Stelladens mysteryfound in Moroccan beds of the late Cretaceous and was about twice the size of modern dolphins. It belonged to the mosasaurs – predatory sea lizards mostly related to modern monitor lizards.
The new species is distinguished by its uniquely shaped teeth – it has blade-like protrusions that run the length of the tooth so that it looks upwards like a Phillips or Phillips screwdriver. Most mosasaurs had two blade-like serrated protrusions in front and behind the tusk to aid in cutting prey. “This was unexpected. This is unlike any mosasaurus, no reptile, or even any vertebrate animal seen before,” said Nick Longrich, one of the study’s authors. Since there are few uniform teeth, the possibility of pathology or mutation is ruled out. The teeth were small but strong and had eroded tips. this seemed to exclude soft-bodied prey, but the teeth were not strong enough to crush heavily armored animals such as oysters or sea urchins.
Often the shape of the teeth is associated with nutritional strategy, but scientists still have no idea what exactly such a tooth might be useful for. Mosasaurs appeared about 100 million years ago and disappeared along with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Formerly paleontologists saidwhere live “bagels” live obama 550 million years old.