‘Nightmarish’ sea lizard with dagger teeth ruled the oceans during time of the dinosaurs

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Scientists have found stays of a “nightmarish” new sea lizard species with dagger-like teeth that dominated the oceans 66 million years in the past.

Khinjaria acuta would have lived alongside dinosaurs, co-existing with behemoths similar to Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops.

Around eight metres lengthy – about the identical size as an orca – Khinjaria had highly effective jaws and lengthy, dagger-like teeth to munch prey, giving it a “nightmarish appearance”, in line with researchers.

The workforce mentioned the creature’s elongated cranium and jaw musculature suggests it had “a terrible biting force”.

Khinjaria belongs to a household of large marine lizards generally known as mosasaurs, the historic family members of at this time’s Komodo dragons and anacondas.

These creatures have been apex predators of their time, the scientists say, occupying prime positions in the oceans alongside fellow mosasaurs similar to the “saw-toothed” Xenodens and the “star-toothed” Stelladen.

Dr Nick Longrich, of the Department of Life Sciences and the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, mentioned: “What’s remarkable here is the sheer diversity of top predators.

“We have multiple species growing larger than a great white shark, and they’re top predators, but they all have different teeth, suggesting they’re hunting in different ways.

“Some mosasaurs had teeth to pierce prey, others to cut, tear, or crush.

“Now we have Khinjaria, with a short face full of huge, dagger-shaped teeth.

“This is one of the most diverse marine faunas seen anywhere, at any time in history, and it existed just before the marine reptiles and the dinosaurs went extinct.”

The researchers speculate that the area’s heat currents and nutrient-rich waters could have offered meals for giant numbers of marine creatures and, consequently, supported quite a few apex predators.

The research, printed in the journal Cretaceous Research, is predicated on an evaluation of a cranium and different skeletal stays uncovered at a phosphate mine south-east of Casablanca, the largest metropolis in Morocco.

Mosasaurs turned extinct round the identical time as the dinosaurs, round 66 million years in the past – in the direction of the finish of the Late Cretaceous interval.

While the actual trigger of their extinction isn’t absolutely understood, it’s believed to be associated to the aftermath of a large asteroid impression in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

When prime predators similar to the mosasaurs disappeared, it opened the approach for whales and seals to change into dominant in the oceans, the researchers mentioned, and fish similar to swordfish and tuna additionally appeared.

Modern marine meals chains now have just some giant apex predators, which embody orcas, white sharks, and leopard seals.

Dr Longrich mentioned: “There seems to have been a huge change in the ecosystem structure in the past 66 million years.

“This incredible diversity of top predators in the Late Cretaceous is unusual, and we don’t see that in modern marine communities.”

He added: “Whether there’s something about marine reptiles that caused the ecosystem to be different, or the prey, or perhaps the environment, we don’t know.

“But this was an incredibly dangerous time to be a fish, a sea turtle, or even a marine reptile.”