A prehistoric reptile that roamed the coasts of Africa 66 million years ago had deadly shark-like teeth that could cut a fish in half with one bite, a recent study has revealed.
The Daily Mail reported that researchers have discovered the fossilized remains of a new species of mosasaur - an ancient sea lizard from the age of the dinosaurs. This particular species was found to have shark-like teeth that gave it a deadly slicing bite.
The discovery adds to the diversity of marine reptiles in the late Cretaceous period, and suggests their diversity peaked just before the dinosaur-killing asteroid hit 66 million years ago.
The fossilized remains of the new species were discovered in the Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco by researchers from the British University of Bath.
Dr. Nick Longrich, senior lecturer at the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath and lead author of the study, said: "66 million years ago, the coasts of Africa were the most dangerous seas in the world. Predator diversity there was unlike anything seen anywhere else on the planet."
The new mosasaur adds to a rapidly growing list of marine reptiles known from the latest Cretaceous of Morocco, which at the time was submerged beneath a tropical sea. A huge diversity of mosasaurs lived here. Some were giant, deep-diving predators like modern sperm whales, others with huge teeth and growing up to ten meters long, were top predators like orcas, still others ate shellfish like modern sea otters - and then there was the strange little Xenodens.
