A fogy of an unusual caribe - like fish from the Late Jurassic period has been unearthed by scientist in southerly Germany , Australian news outletthe ABCreports . Even more singular than the fossil ’s age—150 million years honest-to-goodness — is the fact that the limestone deposit also take some of the fish ’s victim .
Fish with chunks miss from their fins were found near the predator Pisces , which has been namedPiranhamesodon pinnatomus . apart from the predatory animal ’s razor - sharp tooth , though , it does n’t count like your usual flesh - wipe out Pisces . It belonged to an extinct social club of bony fish that lived at the fourth dimension of the dinosaur , and until now , scientists did n’t realize there was a species of bony fish that tore into its prey in such a way . This makes it the first flesh - eating bony fish on record , long predate the vulture .
“ Fish as we know them , bony Pisces , just did not bite flesh of other Pisces at that clip , ” Dr. Martina Kölbl - Ebert , the palaeontologist who found the Pisces with her husband , Martin Ebert , said in astatement . “ Sharks have been able to bite out ball of flesh , but throughout history bony fish have either feed on invertebrates or largely swallow their prey whole . Biting lump of flesh or fins was something that occur much later . "
Kölbl - Ebert , the director of the Jura Museum in Eichstätt , Germany , says she was stunned to see the bony fish ’s keen tooth , comparing it to “ find a sheep with a maze like a woman chaser . ” This cunning disguise made the Pisces the Fishes a awful predatory animal , and scientists conceive the Pisces may have “ exploited aggressive mimicry ” to ambush unsuspicious Pisces .
The fogy was disclose in 2016 in southern Germany , but the find has only of late been described in the journalCurrent Biology . It was found at a pit where other fossils , like those of theArchaeopteryxdinosaur , have been excavate in the past .
[ h / tthe ABC ]
