The complete jawbones belonged to aGlobidens alabamensis, a sea predator that first emerged around 85 million years ago.
She loaned the teeth to a team of scientists, which included University of Alberta paleontologist Brennan Martens.
They analyzed the bones, which they described in the resultingpaper, published inThe Journal of Paleontological Sciences.
The dangers of Texas looked very different 85 million years ago.© Nathan Dehaut
On the left side, six teeth are preserved, while the right jaw has 12.
Some experts have even proposed a theory that some of the speciesmay have been venomous.
Now dry land, the area was covered by an ocean during the mosasaurs time period.
The teeth of a globidens weren’t sharp and serrated, but nubby and cylindrical. © The Journal of Paleontological Sciences
Fiction has taken some liberties with mosasaurs.
InJurassic World, the creature was depicted in gargantuan proportions, snacking on a shark in a single bite.
That species of ichthyosaur has mostly been found in California and other parts of the west coast.
Things might be bigger in Texas, but apparently, there are still limits.
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