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fossil from a huge , rarefied mosasaur with giant globular teeth have been unearthed in Texas , a novel study reveals .
The two adult jaw fragments provide insights into the lifestyle ofGlobidens alabamaensis , which may have progress to lengths of up to 20 foot ( 6 meters ) . The blunt teeth that line the jaw demonstrate the brute force out the mosasaurs bring to acquit on their prey .
Artist impression of the mosasuarGlobidens alabamaensis.
" These structures with their mushroom-shaped cloud shape are great for impact attacks — for carapace beat out . If something is get away and you shatter it , that ’s kind of it,“Bethany Burke Franklin , a maritime fossilist and educator at Texas Through Time fossil museum in Hillsboro , told Live Science . Franklin , who specializes in maritime reptile , was not ask in the study .
During the Late Cretaceous flow ( 100.5 million to 66 million years ago ) , many iconic maritime predatory animal such as the dolphinfish - like ichthyosaur and long - neck plesiosaurs succumb to a changing clime and ensuing alterations to the marine ecosystem . Mosasaurs became the predominant vulture in the shallow seas of the epoch , seize niches once occupy by their better - have it off harbinger . These reptiles rapidly diversified , filling multiple niches in the explosive and prey - rich environment .
G. alabamaensiswas describe in 1912 , but only a handful of cheeseparing - complete specimens of this mosasaur have ever been unearthed . Most fossil grounds consists of teeth and pocket-sized jaw sherd . Four additionalGlobidensspecies have since been report .
The mosasaur’s globular teeth were perfect for crushing shells.
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While most mosasaurs boasted a formidable regalia of dagger - like dentition , Globidensevolved blunt , rounded teeth that were suited to shell the shells of turtles , ammonoid and bivalves . The Western Interior Seaway , which bisect what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous , would have providedG. alabamaensiswith a wide smorgasbord of shelled prey .
Researchers described the discovery of the two jaw bones in a paper published in theJournal of Paleontological Scienceson Aug. 14 .
The fragments were discovered by a private fogy Orion in 2023 in the Ozan Formation in northeastern Texas . The deposit in which they were get engagement to the Campanian Age ( 83.6 million to 72.1 million years ago ) and is just 8 inch ( 20 centimeters ) thick . It has withal proven to be rich in fossils , including other mosasaurs .
The saving of even part of the brute ’s read/write head is exciting , Franklin aver . " Cranial material tends to get squashed more , especially in these thinner class , " she explained .
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One of the jaw still holds 12 teeth ; the other keep on only six . The teeth are around an inch long and rounded , perfectly design for crushing the baffling shell of mollusk . In one jaw , a germ tooth rest below the gumline . It would have later emerged to fill a interruption . Scientists believe that , like shark , mosasaurs shed their teeth and replaced them throughout their lives .
Because of these unique tooth , they were able to coexist alongside other large mosasaurs that pursued different case of prey , Franklin said .
" The adjustment was likely influenced by an overabundance of cephalopods , " she explained . " Multiple coinage could coexist because they were not taking up the same resourcefulness . They [ mosasaurs ] were some of the most rapidly evolving predatory animal of the sentence . They filled recession that were leave behind by the other big marine piranha — there were vast chasms in the nutrient web . "
