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Despite its rows and run-in of chisel- and needle - same teeth , a newly depict prehistoric marine reptilian was n’t a awful piranha but rather an herbivorous giant that acted like a lawnmower for the ocean , a new discipline see .
The crocodile - size reptilian lived about 242 million years ago , duringthe Middle Triassic menstruation . Researchers discovered the first specimen in 2014 in southernChina , but because it was poorly preserved , they reported that it had a schnoz like a flamingo ’s .
An illustration of the reptilian “hammerhead” reptile,Atopodentatus unicus.
Now , two newly discovered specimen show that the beast was far more outlandish : It sported a hammerhead - shaped neb that it in all likelihood used to graze on plants delineate the sea story , the researchers said . It ’s also the early herbivorous marine reptile on record by about 8 million old age , they tell . [ The 12 Weirdest Animal Discoveries ]
" I have n’t seen anything like it before , " aver report co - researcher Olivier Rieppel , the Rowe kinsfolk curator of evolutionary biology at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago .
Weird reptile
The reptile ’s name — Atopodentatus unicus — hints at its unearthly anatomy . In Latin , the genus and mintage name render to " unique funnily toothed , " the research worker said . The freshly analyzed specimens show that the creature had a mouthful of chisel - shaped tooth — one row on the upper jaw and two rows on the lower jaw .
" The remaining parts of the jaw [ are fill with ] dumbly packed needle - shaped teeth forming a mesh , " the researchers wrote in the study , publish online today ( May 6 ) in thejournal Science Advances . This mesh likely helpedA. unicuscollect works cloth , much like abaleen hulk catches krill , say Louis Jacobs , a vertebrate fossilist at Southern Methodist University in Texas who was not involved in the subject .
The chisel - alike teeth believably acted as a rip and trimmer , helpingA. unicusscrape and dislodge plants from the seafloor , Jacobs said . Next , the reptilian belike wet-nurse in a mouthful of water , letting turn of plants get stuck in the interlock mold by its tenuous , acerate leaf - same teeth , he say .
A model ofAtopodentatus unicusnext to its fossil remains. Notice the two rows of teeth on the bottom jaw.
" Then , they squelch the water out of their mouth , and those little teeth along the sides of the jaw and on the ceiling of the mouth strain out all of the flora act , " Jacobs told Live Science . " That ’s anamazing manner to feed . I ’d care to do that myself . "
Rare beast
The two newfangled specimens are teach scientist about herbivorous nautical reptiles , which are rare even today . One of the few modern herbivorous marine reptilian include the maritime iguana of the Galapagos , which swim around , cull algae off of maritime rock and roll for food , Jacobs say .
There are also a few herbivorous nautical mammals , such as Trichechus manatus and dugongs , and the extinct marine mammalian known asthe Desmostylians(which Jacobs helped key out in a 2015 study published in thejournal Historical Biology . ) But , in general , marine reptile are omnivores or carnivore , such as most modern sea turtles and the out marine predators , the ichthyosaur and plesiosaurus .
" [ A. unicus]is so surprising because it is very rare , that anything besides fish live in water would be herbivorous , " Jacobs tell Live Science . [ Image Gallery : Ancient Monsters of the Sea ]
Researchers made clay and toothpick models ofAtopodentatus unicus’s jaw to figure out how it worked.
A. unicusalso tell researcher about how life recovered after the Permian - Triassic mass extinction about 252 million year ago .
" The existence of specialized brute likeAtopodentatus unicusshows us that animation recover and broaden more quickly than antecedently thought , " Rieppelsaid in a affirmation . " And it ’s in spades a reptile that no one would have recollect to be . Look at it — it ’s half-baked ! "
