It was the largest on the planet .. Finding the molar of an extinct animal
Scientists have discovered the remains of a giant marine creature high in the Swiss Alps, possibly the largest known on Earth.
According to the "International Business Times" website, scientists discovered the remains of a marine creature that was known as "Ichthyosaur" at an altitude of more than 2,700 meters in Switzerland.
The team of scientists hopes that future excavations in the Alps and other mountains formed at the site of the ancient ocean (Tethys) will allow the discovery of more fossilized traces of these ancient monsters. Their study will help clarify an ecological niche and understand why no other ichthyosaur fossils have been discovered in the Mesozoic rocks.
The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of scientists, and the results were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
"We assume that these ichthyosaurs were specialized in catching fish that lived in the depths of the sea," said Heinz Furer, curator of the Museum of Paleontology in Zurich, Switzerland. The giant reptiles drove their prey to the coastal lagoons, from where they could no longer escape, and we suppose that the beast we found died in such ancient shallows.”
Forer and his colleagues discovered traces of the largest ichthyosaur on Earth to date, and its size is comparable to that of the largest contemporary whale.
The fossils of the skeleton of the said ichthyosaur were discovered in a remote and inaccessible area of the canton (Grissens) in the Swiss Alps. This area contains rocks from the end of the Triassic period, which formed on the bottom of the shallow seas about 205 million years ago.
The analysis conducted by the scientists indicated that the discovered traces belong to an ichthyosaur whose mass exceeded 80 tons and length at least 20 meters. Scientists assumed that the beast belonged to the Shastasauridae genus of giant ichthyosaurs.
The ichthyosaurs are huge aquatic reptiles that prevailed during the Mesozoic era, and adapted to life in the waters, and lived exclusively in the seas. The ichthyosaurs became extinct 90 million years ago and were larger than the blue whale.
Scientists discovered part of an ichthyosaur tooth, which is the largest ever of such a creature, which means that this creature is the largest of its kind.
They believe it is difficult to predict the size of the giant ichthyosaur based on age alone, but the new findings will certainly help reveal more information about the species.
A previous study like this was able to discover an ichthyosaur about 50 feet long, making the owner of this newly discovered tooth one of the largest animals ever to live. This type of marine reptile was also skilled hunters and swimmers, according to the Mirror.
Despite their size, ichthyosaurs could reach speeds of up to 35 km per hour, according to the study.
According to information available on the NASA website, Earth was thriving with life about 250 million years ago, but somehow more than 90 percent of life ended during a period called the Permian Extinction.
Source: Agencies - Shahba Press
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