A huge fossilized tooth from an ancient marine reptile uncovered in the Swiss Alps may be the largest of its kind ever discovered, a new analysis found.
The report sheds new light on the mysterious behemoths, including their impressive size, how they lived and what they ate.
Furrer, a co-author of the study, also uncovered other fossils, including large vertebra and rib fragments from a second ichthyosaur and seven large vertebrae from a third.The fossils were discovered in a part of the Swiss Alps known as the Kössen Formation, which is nearly 9,200 feet above sea level. Rocks there formed the bottom of a long, shallow coastline more than 200 million years ago.
It's just the second time that fossilized teeth from a giant ichthyosaur have been found, the researchers said. That is most likely because the marine reptiles were mostly toothless, filtering out and eating tiny creatures in the water similar to the way blue whales feed, Sander said.The study suggests, however, that some giant ichthyosaurs in the Late Triassic Period may have been predators with teeth. If so, that would put them among the largest carnivores to have ever roamed the planet.
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