Paleontologists have described a bizarre new species of mosasaurid, based on a skull and parts collected from a phosphate mine southeast of Casablanca, Morocco.
Kinjaria Akta It was part of a highly diverse predatory fauna that lived in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco 66 million years ago, just before the dinosaurs went extinct.
The ancient beast was about 7-8 meters (23-26 feet) long and had powerful jaws and long dagger-like teeth.
belongs to Mosasauridaea family of giant marine lizards with specialized flipper-like limbs and tails.
Dr Nick Longrich, a palaeontologist at the University of Bath, said: 'Some mosasaurs had teeth for piercing their prey, while others had teeth for cutting, tearing or crushing their prey. There were,” he said.
“Now we Kinjaria AktaIt has huge dagger-like teeth on its short face. ”
“This is one of the most diverse marine animals seen at any time in history, and it existed just before marine reptiles and dinosaurs went extinct.”
The only known specimen is Kinjaria Akta was recovered from Sidi Shenan Phosphatein the Ourad Abdoun Basin, Kouriga Department, Morocco.
“Morocco's phosphates are deposited in shallow, warm continental oceans in upwelling systems,” said Professor Nathalie Bardet, a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
“These zones are caused by deep, cool, nutrient-rich water flows rising toward the surface, providing food for large numbers of marine life and, in turn, many predators. Masu.”
“This is probably one explanation for this extraordinary paleobiodiversity observed in Morocco at the end of the Cretaceous.”
“Morocco's phosphates immerse us in the Upper Cretaceous ocean, in the latest geological period of the age of dinosaurs,” says Professor Nour Eddin Jalil, also from the National Museum of Natural History. .
“No other deposit from this period has yielded so many fossils and species.”
“After “Sea Giant,'' Thalassotitan“sawtooth” mosasaurus Xenoden“Startooth” Mosasaurus, Stelladen and many other things now Kinjaria Akta, a new mosasaur with dagger-like teeth. ”
“The elongation of the posterior part of the skull, which houses the jaw musculature, suggests formidable biting forces.”
discovery of Kinjaria Akta is explained in paper in a diary Cretaceous research.
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Nicholas R. Longrich other. A strange new species of Plioplatecarpine mosasaurid from the Maastrichtian region of Morocco. Cretaceous research, published online March 1, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105870
Source: www.sci.news
