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WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) – You can call it a prehistoric prequel.
Scientists said on Thursday they have unearthed in southern Germany the fossil of a fish that, with its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, strongly resembled today's piranhas, the stars of more than their fair share of Hollywood horror films. But this one lived during the Jurassic Period 152 million years ago.
Named Piranhamesodon pinnatomus, it is the earliest known example of a bony fish – as opposed to cartilaginous fish like sharks – able to slice flesh rather than merely swallowing prey, enabling it to attack victims larger than itself as piranhas can.
Piranhamesodon, about 3-1 / 2 inches (9 cm) long, lived in the sponge and coral reefs of the Solnhofen archipelago, a shallow tropical sea in what is now Bavaria. Piranhas are freshwater fish that inhabited rivers and lakes in South America.
Piranhamesodon was small, but its mouth was worthy of a scary movie. It boasted long, pointed, dagger-like teeth along the outer edge of its upper jaw and at the front of its lower jaw. It also had triangular teeth on the side of the lower jaw.
"We have been able to do this," said Dr. Martina Kölbl-Ebert of the "Jura-Museum Eichstätt in Germany," said the pycnodontids, who are famous for their crushing teeth. , who led the research published in the journal Current Biology.
"Kölbl-Ebert added a new look.
The fossil came from the same Bavarian limestone deposits as Archeopteryx, the earliest-known bird.
"From the same quarry, we also have a number of other victims who have been victims of piranhamesodon. regeneration of the end, "Kölbl-Ebert said.
While it shares traits with piranhas, Piranhamesodon was neither their long nor thereafter. The oldest-known piranhas lived around 15 million years ago.
Piranhamesodon is an example of a phenomenon known as convergent evolution.
"The new fish is a most interesting example of convergent evolution, evolving for bony fish then – a completely new way of life," Kölbl-Ebert said. (Reporting by Will Dunham Editing by Sandra Maler)
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