Ichthyosaur: Scientists discover huge ancient swordfish-like creature
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Scientists have discovered a new marine reptile that lived 130 million years ago in South America.
The reptile, an Ichthyosaur - which means 'fish lizard' in Greek - is believed to have swam in shallow waters during the early Cretaceous period in what is now Colombia.
Fossils suggest it was huge swordfish-like creature with a metre-long skull and plenty of teeth!
The remains of the creature, which is believed to be one of the last surviving ichthyosaurs that lived on Earth, were originally found nearly 50 years ago but have recently been re-examined by experts.
An artist's impression of what the ichthyosaur might have looked like
What did scientists find?
A fresh study of the well-preserved skull showed that it belonged to a completely new species that hadn't been seen before.
"We compared this animal to other Jurassic and Cretaceous ichthyosaurs and were able to define a new type of ichthyosaurs", said Erin Maxwell of the State Natural History Museum of Stuttgart.
Certain species of ichthyosaur have been found to have had some of the biggest eyes ever recorded - this helped them see through the dark waters of the deep ocean!
Palaeontologist Hans Larsson from McGill University who studied the fossil said that its unique teeth allowed it to eat large animals.
"Whereas other ichthyosaurs had small, equally sized teeth for feeding on small prey, this new species modified its tooth sizes and spacing to build an arsenal of teeth for dispatching large prey, like big fishes and other marine reptiles," he added.
Researchers say that this new discovery is helping them to better understand the ichthyosaur family tree better and to see how the species evolved.
What do you think of this newly-discovered monster marine reptile? Let us know in the comments below..
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