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<\/p>\nExperts have identified a new species of the mosasaur after finding an almost complete skull in Mexico.<\/p>\n
The barracuda-like carnivore was likely the most ferocious reptile in the sea, with its teeth, which were flat and serrated like a shark. The new Plioplatecarpinae species was named Yaguarasaurus regiomontanus and is believed to have lurked the waters some 90 million years ago.<\/p>\n
The marine reptile had a long and slender rostrum (beak-like snout) and was roughly 5.2m long making it one of the earliest known large mosasaurs, SciNews reports.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMosasaurids were fully aquatic, predominantly marine large predatory squamates that were present worldwide in the oceans in the Late Cretaceous,\u201d said paleontologist Hector Rivera-Sylva.<\/p>\n
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He said over 40 different types have been recognised with the largest reaching a length of 12m.<\/p>\n
\u201cMosasauridae comprise at least four subfamilies: Halisaurinae, Mosasaurinae, Tylosaurinae, and Plioplatecarpinae, although the details of mosasaur relationships remain controversial and a topic of ongoing study," he added.<\/p>\n
The remains of the almost complete skull was found in Vallecillo in the northeastern Mexico state of Nuevo Leon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first report of Yaguarasaurus from Mexico and the most complete of the Americas,\u201d the paleontologists said.<\/p>\n
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The discovery is reported in a paper published in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences.<\/p>\n
It comes after another fossil of a jaw was discovered in Morocco in 2021.<\/p>\n
That species named Xenodens calminechari had a jaw that formed a \u201csaw-like blade\u201d, which would use a \u201ccutting motion used to carve pieces out of large prey, or in scavenging\u201d.<\/p>\n
The mouth of razors makes it unique among the species, which became extinct 66million years ago.<\/p>\n
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A distant relative of snakes and monitor lizards, the mosasaur lived off the coast of what is now Morocco during the Cretaceous period.<\/p>\n
Researchers said the closest match for its teeth seem to be modern-day dogfish sharks, which can cut large bolts of flesh out as they scavenge through the seas.<\/p>\n
Paulina Jim\u00e9nez-Huidobro, a paleontologist at the University of Bonn in Germany, described the 2021 fossil as \u201ccompletely bizarre\u201d.<\/p>\n
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