Giant toothed leeches in the Amazon basin

A "monster" leech that lives in the Amazon basin, it is named after Tyrannobdella rex tyrant dinosaur due to its huge teeth.

Tyrannobdella rex (Tyrannobdella rex) is a leech species found in remote areas of the Upper Amazon River in Peru in South America, while a relative of they are Dinobdella ferox and they appear in Taiwan. They date to about 200 million years ago.

The tyrant was discovered by Dr. Renzo Arauco-Brown to hide in the nose of a 9-year-old Peruvian girl after she regularly bathed in small rivers and lakes in the Amazon basin.

Tyrannobdella rex has giant teeth - (Photo: Anna Phillips.)

Tyrannobdella rex has a small body, less than 5cm long and about 1cm across, but its teeth are huge, up to 0.013cm long and grow on a single jaw, unlike any other leech . On its body are dark brown and yellow lines. This is a creature that absorbs blood and lives parasites.

The most annoying thing about the leech Tyrannobdella rex is to cause mucous injury. Unlike most leeches, only clinging to a place to suck human and animal blood for a few hours until it is full, ejects Tyrannobdella rex " sticking " in the mucous membrane for several days, even in a few weeks.

The person with leeches in his nose feels that his teeth are deep and painful, making it difficult to breathe. If it causes cavum pharyngonasale, it will lead to nasal hemorrhage, severe cough, bloody spitting. In severe cases, severe anemia in different forms.

Researcher Mark Siddall from the American Museum of Natural History said: 'Tyrannobdella rex's tooth size is slightly larger than the width of a human hair. It uses teeth like serrated teeth, however, it does not need to create a large wound because it has an extraordinary strong attraction. '

There are about 700 species of leeches known in the world.