12-Foot Reptile Found In The Stomach Of A 240-Million-Year-Old ‘Megapredator’
Da-Yong Jiang, et alThe stomach of the fossilized Guizhouichthyosaurus ichthyosaur which contained the remains of its 12-foot prey.
During prehistoric times, a 15-foot mega fish-lizard known as the Ichthyosaur to modern scientists hunted beneath the ocean surface. It happened upon a 12-foot long Thalattosaur, which it promptly devoured.
And this hefty meal stayed inside the Ichthyosaur until its remains were unearthed 240 million years later.
In 2010, the fossils were uncovered by archaeologists in China’s Guizhou province, where the mega predator was named Guizhouichthyosaurus ichthyosaur. When researchers realized the dinosaur’s last meal was fossilized along with it, the discovery became the first evidence of mega-predation by this species.
“We have never found articulated remains of a large reptile in the stomach of gigantic predators from the age of dinosaurs, such as marine reptiles and dinosaurs,” said Ryosuke Motani, co-author of the study published in iScience journal this year.
“We always guessed from tooth shape and jaw design that these predators must have fed on large prey, but now we have direct evidence that they did.”
What’s most astounding about this science news was that there wasn’t a huge difference in length between the mega-predator and the mega-prey.
However, the Guizhouichthyosaurus may have had an advantage in terms of body mass, making it easier for it to prey on such a large beast. Researchers found the entire midsection of a Xinpusaurus inside the predator’s stomach, which suggests that the predator may have used a sharp maneuver to crack its spine before devouring it.
The finding dispels the long-held belief among scientists that the biggest predators likely had the largest teeth in order for them to target such large prey. The Guizhouichthyosaurus was the opposite — it had small peg-like teeth, which is why it’s likely it had ripped its meal apart before eating it. A fossilized tail part nearby the uncovered dinosaur also supports this hypothesis.
In any case, this prehistoric mega-predation was among the most exciting science articles of 2020.
