Accidentally discovered a new shark while sorting fossils Tyrannosaurus rex

Recently paleontologists have unknowingly discovered an entirely new species of shark during the fossil taxonomy of the tyrant dinosaur.

"SUE" is the most famous fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex and the discovery, excavation, research and exhibition of this fossil model itself is also a very special process. Recently, paleontologists found several teeth with a width of only 1 mm in the rock layer containing fossilized "SUE" samples. These teeth belong to a small shark living at the end of the Cretaceous 66 million years ago.

This is a small shark lived at the end of the Cretaceous 66 million years ago.

Fossilized "SUE" of the Tyrannosaurus rex is still on display at the Field Natural History Museum in Chicago. Fossils "SUE" are found on the Cheyenne River in South Dakota. This fossil was first discovered by Susan, so it was named "SUE". "SUE" is a giant Tyrannosaurus rex, nearly 13 meters long and one of the most complete fossils of this species ever discovered by humans.

"SUE" is the most famous fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex and the discovery, excavation, research and exhibition of this fossil model itself is also a very special process.

Susan (first on the left) and fossilized "SUE".

To fight for the ownership of the fossil "SUE", the head of the Montenegro Geological Institute, who discovered and excavated the fossil and is the owner of the fossil discovery area, was involved in the incidents. bales for years. But later, "SUE" was sold to Field Natural History Museum for a high price of US $ 8.36 million. Immediately after, the fossil was restored and finally officially displayed on May 17, 2000. After that, a number of visitors came to the museum to admire this famous fossil sample.

The skull of Tyrannosaurus Rex "SUE" has been cleaned.

A museum volunteer named Karen Nordquist, a former chemist who classified this dinosaur fossil, removed two tons of debris from the rocks surrounding the fossil and carry out detailed observation to avoid missing any bones.

Under the microscope, Nordquist noticed that there were some strange little stones in the debris. These small stones have a similar shape and are all about 1 mm in diameter.

Karen Nordquist is observing fragments with a microscope.

Small teeth with a width of only 1 mm were found in the debris.

Nordquist's discovery sparked interest in paleontologists, after careful study determined that these small stones were indeed the teeth of a prehistoric shark . Researchers from the Museum of Natural History and North Carolina State University finally published a study in the Journal of Paleontology, entitled "New sharks and other chondrichthyans from the latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of North America ". The official name of this new species is Galagadon (bee tooth shark) and is classified as carpet shark cell .

Based on preserved fossils of teeth one millimeter wide, paleontologists speculate that the length of a bee tooth shark is only 0.3 to 0.46 meters, and the shape is very similar. with today's Orectolobus shark.

The shape of this shark is very similar to today's Orectolobus sharks.

Orectolobus is a rugged shark genus in the Orectolobidae family. They are found in the temperate and shallow tropical waters of the Western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, mainly around Australia and Indonesia, though a species is present far north of Japan.

Bee sharks have flat bodies and big heads.

Bee sharks have flat bodies and big heads. There are many rows of small and sharp small teeth in the mouth. They possess a circular pair of eyes above their heads, and may have tentacles at the mouth in front of them. The pectoral fins and pelvic fins are very large, possessing undeveloped dorsal and caudal fins.

Bee teeth can have as many spots and patches as other carpet sharks, making it easier to hide. From the shape of the bee tooth shark, it can be seen that it is not a swimming shark like the great sharks we still see today.

Bee teeth shark lived at the same time as Tyrannosaurus Rex "SUE" - the end of the Cretaceous period from 67.4 million to 65.5 million years ago. Their habitat is South Dakota today in the United States. Unlike present-day South Dakota, during the Cretaceous, it was warm and humid, with swampy rivers.

Beehive sharks live in the same environment as many famous dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex, Dakota Raptor, Edmonton, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, etc. Beehive sharks live in water and their sizes are too small to pose a threat. Dinosaur scare. Their diet is mainly small fish, shrimp and molluscs.

The reason why the teeth of a bee tooth was found when classifying fossils is that many people think that, 66 million years ago, Tyrannosaurus "SUE" ended his life and fell to the edge of the swamp. After the heavy rain, the water level rose and flooded the body of "SUE".

A group of bee teeth sharks swim in the scent of scavengers and gather around the "SUE" body. Because the skin of "SUE" was very hard, the teeth of the bee teeth were broken and plugged into the skin during the process of pitting and eventually turned into fossils and were discovered by paleontologists.

Series teeth of shark teeth bee.

The discovery of bee tooth sharks is a very random process, the discovery of this small shark has enriched the ecosystem of the Late Cretaceous in North America especially for sharks. small fresh water.