When you purchase through links on our site , we may bring in an affiliate mission . Here ’s how it turn .
Scientists in Japan have unearthed the virtually - complete corpse of an ancient , neat lily-white shark - sizesea monsterthat belike terrorize the ancient oceans it used to inhabit . The prehistoric predator , which researchers have named " gloomy dragon , " has an unusual torso architectural plan that coif it asunder from its nonextant relatives and is unlike any exist creature .
The exceptional dodo , which are around 72 million years old , were bring out along the Aridagawa River in Wakayama Prefecture on Honshu island . They go to a never - before - seen species ofmosasaur — a chemical group of air - respiration aquatic reptiles that were apex marine marauder during theCretaceous period(145 million to 66 million years ago ) . The " astounding " remains are the most complete mosasaur fossils ever uncover in Japan and the northwest Pacific , researchers wrote in astatement .
Mosasaurs are a group of apex marine predators that ruled the oceans toward the end of the Cretaceous period. Unlike the mosasaur illustrated here, the “blue dragon” had unusually large rear flippers and a dorsal fin.
In a Modern study published Dec. 11 in theJournal of Systematic Palaeontology , researchers describe the new mosasaurMegapterygius wakayamaensis . The young genusMegapterygiustranslates to " big - winged " after the creature ’s unusually large rearward flipper , and the species namewakayamaensisrecognizes the prefecture where it was found . The squad nicknamed the creature the Wakayama Soryu — a soryu is a risque - colored aquatic dragon from Japanese mythology .
Mosasaurs share a similar dead body plan and there is very little variation among metal money . ButM. wakayamaensisis something of an outlier , which has surprised scientist .
" I thought I knew them [ mosasaurs ] quite well by now , " field of study take authorTakuya Konishi , a vertebrate palaeontologist at the University of Cincinnati , said in the affirmation . But " immediately , [ I knew ] it was something I had never seen before . "
M. wakayamaensishad a dorsal fin and large rear flippers, which are both unique among mosasaurs.
relate : Oldest ' Pisces - lizard ' fossil ever found indicate these sea monstrosity survived the ' Great Dying '
Like other mosasaurs , M. wakayamaensishad a dolphin - like trunk with four paddle - like flipper , an alligator - shaped rostrum and a tenacious tail . But it also had a dorsal fin like a shark or dolphin , which is not insure in any other mosasaur species .
However , what confused researchers the most was the size of the new mosasaur ’s rear flippers , which were even foresightful than their front flipper . Not only is this a first among mosasaurs but it is also extremely rare among all living and nonextant aquatic mintage .
Almost all swim fauna have their largest flippers toward the front of their bodies , which help them steer through the water supply . birth larger flippers at the rear of the body would be like driving a automobile by steering the rearward wheels instead of the front ones , which would make it much concentrated to rick quickly .
" We lack any modern parallel that has this kind of body morphology — from Pisces the Fishes to penguin to sea turtles , " Konishi say . " None has four magnanimous flippers they utilise in alignment with a stern quintuplet . "
The researchers suspect that alternatively of using the rear flipper to turn , M. wakayamaensisangled them upwards or downward to cursorily dive down or ascend through the water column , which may have helped make them expert huntsman . The dorsal 5 could have made it easy for the creature to move around , which may have countervail the additional puff from the rear flippers , they bestow .
" It open up a whole can of worm that challenge our understanding of how mosasaurs swimming , " Konishi said .
— new divulge Cretaceous sea monster constitute after world - ending Norse snake
— ' Merciless ' sea freak with crushed dentition prowled the seas 66 million yr ago
— An 18 - foot - long ocean monster rule the ancient sea that once get over Kansas
M. wakayamaensiswas about the same size asgreat white sharks(Carcharodon carcharias ) , which grow to around 16 feet ( 4.9 meter ) long . But other species could grow up to 56 feet ( 17 m ) , which is longer than a school heap .
Mosasaurs emerge around 100 million years ago and died off around 66 million year ago along with the nonaviandinosaursafter amassive asteroid strike Earth . During the last 20 million days of their cosmos , the terrifying ocean lizard were the aquatic equivalent ofTyrannosaurs rexand sat at the top of the food Ernst Boris Chain , thanks in part to the disappearance of other top maritime piranha such asichthyosaursand pliosaurs , the researchers save .
