Shock Discovery of Sea Creatures in the Dinosaur Era, the Size is the Same as an Orca Whale

Geger Penemuan Makhluk Laut pada Era Dinosaurus, Besarnya Sama dengan Ukuran Paus Orca<br>

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Shocking Discovery of Sea Creatures in the Dinosaur Era, the Size is Comparable to that of an Orca Whale

The presence of giant sea creature fossils during the dinosaur era is as big as an orca whale.

Specialists in paleontology in Morocco recently discovered the astonishing fossil remains of a tremendously large species of sea lizard, previously undocumented, with teeth resembling daggers. This giant reptile measures around 26 feet (approximately 8 meters), nearly as long as an orca whale, and was found in the Atlantic Ocean waters off the coast of the region now known as Africa, during the late dinosaur era approximately 66 million years ago. This discovery was presented in a study published on March 1st in the journal Cretaceous Research.

"Khinjaria Acuta"

This animal is named Khinjaria acuta, which takes inspiration from "khinjar", an Arabic word meaning "dagger", and "acuta", which means "sharp" in Latin.

His strong mouth allows him to attack large prey, including sharks and other sea reptiles. This reptile, often considered a nightmare, is part of the Mosasauridae family, also known as the extinct mosasaurus sea lizard group, with current relatives including the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and anaconda, according to a statement from the University of Bath in England. Its terrifying teeth and jaws can be seen on the skull and some of the skeleton found buried in a phosphate mine near the port city of Casablanca, Morocco.

The examination of the skull and jaw indicates that the animal has "a strong bite force," as stated by Nour-Eddine Jalil, a professor and collection manager at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Khinjaria is just one of many top predators that roamed the seas in search of prey during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). "This period was very risky for fish, sea turtles, or even marine reptiles," said the lead author of this study, Nick Longrich, a senior lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences and the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.

Discovery of Khinjaria Acuta

The discovery of Khinjaria Acuta adds to the large number of known apex marine predators at the end of the Cretaceous period, raising questions about the reasons and ways in which so many mosasaurs appeared during that time. "Several species larger than the great white shark were found, all of them apex predators, but they had different teeth, indicating that they hunted using different techniques," said Longrich.

"This is one of the most diverse collections of marine fauna that have ever existed, at every point in history, and its existence is right before the extinction of marine reptiles and dinosaurs," he added. "Some mosasaurs have teeth designed to penetrate prey, while others are for cutting, tearing, or crushing. Now, with the presence of Khinjaria, we have a creature with a short face equipped with large dagger-shaped teeth."

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