An ancient relative of a 300 million-year-old ancestor of the shark, after its discovery in New Mexico in 2013, received the nickname "Godzilla" shark;
A good last name after being classified as a special species of shark.
Paleontologists have found an unusually well-preserved ancient shark complete skeleton two meters long on a special site in the Manzano Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The study was published online April 15 in the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Bulletin.
Hoffman's Dragon Shark
Dubbed the "Godzilla" shark because of its size, the skeleton is the largest fossil of its kind ever discovered in the area. Distinctive features of the skeleton include 12 rows of piercing teeth placed between powerful jaws and a pair of 0.8-meter-long spines on its back.
John Paul Hoodnett, a paleontologist with the Maryland Park and Planning Commission, who first discovered the fossil and led the new research team, told Live Science, "I'm also a huge fan of Godzilla, so that's why." When this shark's features came to light, I thought it was the perfect nickname for it. "
The shark was officially named "Hoffman's Dragon Shark" (Dracopristis hoffmanorum), after the family that owned the land where the skeleton was found, and in recognition of its wild appearance.
"It is very rare to find skeletal material for ancient sharks, let alone a complete skeleton that also preserved the body outline and impressions of other soft tissues, and as a new species it was also amazing and unique," Hodnett said.
Old relatives
The "Hoffman Dragon Shark" belongs to a group of mysterious ancient sharks known as (Ctenacanthus), and it forms a cartilaginous species from prehistoric times, whose species diverged from modern sharks and rays about 390 million years ago during the Devonian period.
Its remains were found in the Ployd Formation in Arkansas, in the United States (Carboniferous period) and in South America, and the wonderfully preserved skeleton has enabled researchers to learn more about this poorly understood group.
And one of the biggest differences between this genus and modern sharks lies in the jaws, and researchers have proven that the jaws of the genus Ctenacanths are larger and more closely related to the skull, making it less flexible, and these fixed jaws may mean that these fish were not predators at the top of the food pyramid like fish The modern shark, instead, the new fossil indicates that it may have occupied a different ecological place.
"From anatomy of the pectoral fins and tail, we suggest that the Hoffmann dragon shark was most likely a predator that remained near the bottom of the mouth of the ancient lake in which it lived. The teeth are also more adapted to catch and crush prey like crustaceans and small vertebrates," Hodnett said.
The researchers suggest that the large spines on the back of the "Hoffman Dragon Shark" may have been used as a defense against the larger sharks.
The teeth of the great sharks found in the area provide evidence of this, according to a press release from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS).
Fossilized Godzilla shark skeleton with an art drawing of what it might look like (New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science)
One sample is not enough
The ancient sharks known as Ctenacanthus became extinct during the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago, which ended the Paleozoic era.
However, the exact cause of the shark extinction remains unclear.
Scientists are now searching for more fossils in the area to learn more about its life history and evolutionary characteristics, such as longevity, growth rate, age of reproductive maturity and reproductive production.
Eileen Grogan, co-author and biologist at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, told Live Science;
"We cannot reconstruct the life-history features of a species based on one sample only."
"A more comprehensive understanding of life history features requires greater sampling across sizes, gender, and environments in which the organism is found," she added.