New 'monster' discovered: Transforms itself into a 'meat grinder'

An unknown ichthyosaur, living in the early Cretaceous period, has developed a unique and different tooth from other ichthyosaurs to be able to eat even large prey.

Graphic image depicting the new terrifying ichthyosaur

According to Sci-News, the new "monster" has been named Kyhytysuka sachicarum , with a startling 130-million-year-old fossil found in Columbia. It was an ichthyosaur, meaning "fisher dragon" or "fish lizard," a long-snouted, small-toothed, dolphin-like reptile that preyed on small ocean animals - except for the one just found.

Dr Erin Maxwell from the Stuttgart Museum of Natural History (Germany), a member of the international research team, said that they compared the exceptional fossil with many other Cretaceous dinosaurs and reptiles and identified them. yes it is a completely new species.

Unlike other ichthyosaurs, the Kyhytysuka sachicarum developed a special tooth inside its mouth, as well as changing the size and spacing of the teeth in order to be able to eat larger prey, making it a machine The "meat crusher" is especially dangerous in the ancient ocean.

According to Dr. Maxwell, this "shakes the evolutionary tree" of the ichthyosaurs.

According to paleontologist Dirley Cortes from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama), this new monster provides further evidence that ancient Columbia was a biodiversity hotspot , especially during the transitional period. from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous, with a global extinction event accompanied by a mass explosion of new species.