Zurich researchers discover rare fossil in Venezuela
Published: Thursday, Aug 29th 2024, 06:20
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A crocodile and a tiger shark hunted the same animal millions of years ago. This find from Venezuela, analyzed by researchers from the University of Zurich, sheds light on the prehistoric food chain in a new way, according to the university.
In a study published on Thursday in the "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology", the researchers showed that the specimen of an extinct species of manatee was first hunted by a prehistoric crocodile and later eaten by a tiger shark around 23 to 11.6 million years ago.
"While we previously found that sperm whales were eaten by several shark species, this new discovery shows the importance of manatees in the prehistoric food chain," lead author Aldo Benites-Palomino from the University of Zurich (UZH) was quoted as saying in the press release.
Farmer discovers fossil
The findings also support the assumption that the food chains in prehistoric times functioned in a similar way to today. Today, carcasses are often found that have been attacked by several predators. "But fossil evidence of this behavior is rare," says the researcher.
The manatee fossil with bite marks from several predators was discovered by researchers during an expedition in Venezuela led by UZH researcher and study co-author Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra. They had learned about this from a farmer who had noticed some unusual rocks. It took a team of five people around seven hours to recover the fossils they found. The preparation and restoration of the skull elements took another several months.
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