Ancient Deep-Sea Predator Unveiled: The Eel-Like Shark That Roamed Earth 360 Million Years Ago
According to National Geographic, the scientists uncovered several skulls and an almost complete skeleton from two species of Phoebodus while working in eastern Morocco.
Researchers found that Phoebodus had an elongated, eel-like body with a long snout, making it the only-known jawed vertebrate of its time to have an “anguilliform body shape.”
Linda Frey and Christian Klug/Paläontologisches Institut und Museum/University of ZurichAn iron-rich deposit from the Phoebodus fossil.
What’s even more exciting about this discovery is just how rare it is to find shark fossils at all. Shark skeletons are made of cartilage which is weaker than solid bone and subject to deterioration much faster. But because of the location in which this ancient shark died, its skeleton could be preserved.
The fossils were unearthed in what used to be a shallow sea basin during the Devonian era. When the sharks died there, the limited water circulation and low oxygen levels from the basin created an environment that prevented their bodies from deteriorating, from being picked off by scavengers, or consumed by bacteria, and eroded by sea currents.
“Although the shark Phoebodus was known from plenty of teeth material for decades, skeletons were completely absent before our recent discoveries,” the study’s co-author Linda Frey from the Palaeontologocial Institute and Museum at the University of Zurich told IFLScience.
Linda Frey and Christian Klug/Paläontologisches Institut und Museum/University of ZurichReconstruction of a). Phoebodus, b) T. gracia, and c) the frilled shark.
Frey added that the team was “overwhelmed” by making such a discovery which has been published in detail in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Post Comment