Discover the new sea beast species

Scientists have discovered fossils of a giant predator that survived the greatest extinction in history.

The fossil of a sea monster shaped like a dolphin can help scientists find a new scientific basis for evidence of the resilience of life on Earth after an extinction event. series before.

Scientists estimate giant carnivores about 8.6m in length. It took them three weeks to bring its fossil skeleton from Nevada's hilly area and is now stored at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Portrait of "ruler of the sea eating lizard"

This new species is officially named ' Thalattoarchon Saurophagis' meaning "ruler of the sea eating lizards." It is an early member of the Fishman family (ichthyosaurs), a marine reptile that evolved from terrestrial reptiles, like modern whales that evolved from terrestrial mammals. The Fishman family dominated the ocean for about 160 million years and became extinct about 90 million years ago. 25 million years later, the entire dinosaur era ended.

Researcher Martin Sander, evolutionary biologist at Bonn University (Germany), said: "They are the species with the most adaptive characteristics of all marine reptiles, shaped like fish and born very early ".

Thalattoarchon possesses a large skull and large, sharp teeth to catch and cut prey. The researchers also claim that it can attack large or larger prey.

"This newly discovered Ichthyosaur is a top predator. It has 'dread' like modern killer whales, tyrant dinosaurs , " Sander said. "This is the first predator in the chain of carnivores that exists today."

Most marine animals are preserved, including the skull, except for the front of the mouth, parts of the fins and almost the entire spine to the tip of the tail. The fossil is also named "Jim" after the name of the person who found it, Jim Holstein.

Thalattoarchon possesses a large skull

This newly discovered predator lived about 244 million years ago, 8 million years ago, the largest mass extinction event in Earth's history. This event occurred at the end of the Permian period, killing up to 80-96% of all marine species, except for relatively small species.

Further research, scientists found, the fact that a giant predator is capable of handling larger, larger prey than it immediately after the end of the Permian mass extinction event, shows birth The state has recovered quickly after death.

"A top carnivore is an indicator of how well the ecosystem is complete. Because they are the highest in the food network, it means lower levels , " Sander said. .

They have diversified very quickly."We hope that, by studying these groups, we can better understand the processes of large-scale evolution," said evolutionary biologist Lars Schmitz, Claremont University of McKenna.

This finding could give scientists a sense of what the Earth's future is about.

"The recovery of ecosystems is a big topic of research. Because people are causing one of the biggest extinctions," Sander said. "Therefore, people need to be concerned about how long it takes to build the ecosystem once you have destroyed it."