Surprising discoveries in Australia: they find fossils of two impressive prehistoric animals

Australia it was the scene of two surprising discoveries, in which fossils of two impressive ones were found prehistoric animals: An ancestor of the giant extinct shark megalodon it’s a plesiosaurancient marine reptile that inhabited the planet 100 million years ago.

A team of paleontologists has brought to light in the north-east of the oceanic country, more precisely in the town of McKinlay, in the interior of the north-eastern region of Queensland, the fossil skull and complete skeleton of a plesiosaur

“His head was completely attached to his body.. This is something extremely important because most of the time when you do excavations like this you only have a part of the body and the head is missing or the head is found without the body,” said project leader Espen Knutsen. from the excavation area.

Plesiosaurs were characterized by a small head, an extremely long neck like that of a giraffe, four turtle-like side flippers, and a short tail. while adults They could measure up to 14 metersthe specimen found in Australia, which lacks only the tip of the snout, was approximately approx six meters.

With this discovery, the researchers hope to reveal more details about the habits and diet of this gigantic creature that inhabited the ancient waters of the Eromanga Sea some 100 million years ago, which covered large portions of what is now known as mainland Australia. .

The other find: a fossil of the megalodon ancestor

A group of scientists has discovered the fossil of an ancestor of megalodona gigantic historic extinct shark, in the waters around the Australian Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean.

The discovery took place during a research trip aboard the Investigator ship, which belongs to the Australian scientific agency CSIRO, while searching the depths of that remote area located halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka.

In that expedition, they collected 750 mineralized fossils of shark teethof several modern and prehistoric predatory species, including those of the ancestor of the dreaded megalodon, which It is believed to have reached between 10 and 19 metres.

“This shark evolved into the megalodon, which was the largest species of shark.although it died out about 3.5 million years ago,” explained Western Australian Museum fish curator Glenn Moore, who was involved in the research.

Although the megalodon is considered one of the most powerful predators in history, little evidence of its existence remains, such as its teeth, so its appearance and maximum size are uncertain.

The discovery of a new species

On that same expedition through the waters of the Australian Cocos Islands, They have also discovered new species of marine animals. From realitymany of them hitherto unknown, such as a small striped horn sharkfound off the coast of northwestern Australia.

“This species is unique to Australia, but has yet to be named or described. This species that we have collected will be of great scientific importance,” said Will White, museum curator at the Western Australian Museum.

This class of sharks, also known as horn sharks (Heterodontus francisci), are animals that measure about three feet, are slow-moving, and are usually found in shallow water.

Similarly, these animals generally remain hidden behind rocks or seaweed on the seabed and come out at night to forage for food, although the new species discovered in the CISRO expedition inhabits waters more than 150 meters deep.

With information from EFE.

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