Dinosaur-age sea monster with 'face full of huge, dagger-shaped teeth' discovered in Moroccan mine

Paleontologists in Morocco have discovered the fossilized remains of a huge, never-before-seen species of marine lizard with "dagger-like" teeth.

The reptile was around 26 feet (8 meters) long — about the same length as an orca — and hunted in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of what is now Africa at the end of the dinosaur age, about 66 million years ago, according to a study published March 1 in the journal Cretaceous Research.

Dinosaur-age sea monster with 'face full of huge, dagger-shaped teeth' discovered in Moroccan mine

Khinjaria was just one of many top predators prowling the ocean for prey during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago).

"This was an incredibly dangerous time to be a fish, a sea turtle or even a marine reptile," lead study author Nick Longrich, a senior lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences and the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, said in the statement.

Seems like an incredibly dangerous time to be alive, period.

This is only one of many nightmare monsters living during that period. It really is a miracle that we're even here at all.

Thank God for large comets colliding with us. Or whatever it was that forced the extinction of all of these creatures 65 million years ago. Without that massive die off, there is no way a puny little sack of meat, bones and blood like us would have ever had the chance to evolve.

a reply to: SchrodingersRat

I find it interesting that we know certain species were alive then and still are today. My question is, why did ALL the dinosaurs go extinct? Particularly, ones like these that were sea beasts. It’s a no brainer why the land animals went extinct. The sea beasts not so much.

Cool find!

hi

From what ive read (maybe wrong)
Crocodiles are still the oldest and have not changed in millions of years

Im probably wrong
usualy am on a saturday night

cheers

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

Yes, but virtually none of the huge species survived. The megafauna being another example. Everything got smaller. I’m curious why the massive ones all died off.

I guess a good answer is they needed a tremendous amount to eat every day. Maybe they starved out due to a lack of resources.

I agree with the OP, I’m glad they’re dead. I would never swim in the ocean with an animal like that in it.

originally posted by: alwaysbeenhere2
hi

From what ive read (maybe wrong)
Crocodiles are still the oldest and have not changed in millions of years

Im probably wrong
usualy am on a saturday night

cheers

Good point. I think I've read that crocodiles have been around relatively unchanged for 200 million years.

200 million years.

Jesus God...

a reply to: KKLOCO

I have read that the reason animals aren't as large today.. specifically insect and arachnids (but I believe I also impacts other animals) is due to the lower oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Large PPM of CO2 in the atmosphere super fed the mega flora which released large amounts of oxygen. As our climate continues its cyclic change humans may once again....many many years down the road see large mega fauna again.

That's just my opinion.

a reply to: SchrodingersRat

Sounds similar to the one they found in Dorset recently.

Pliosaur discovery: Huge sea monster emerges from Dorset cliffs

www.bbc.com...

originally posted by: Asher47
a reply to: KKLOCO

I have read that the reason animals aren't as large today.. specifically insect and arachnids (but I believe I also impacts other animals) is due to the lower oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Large PPM of CO2 in the atmosphere super fed the mega flora which released large amounts of oxygen. As our climate continues its cyclic change humans may once again....many many years down the road see large mega fauna again.

That's just my opinion.

I’ve read the same thing. Supposedly, co2 was around 35% back then and is around 22% now. How does that affect sea life though?

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: SchrodingersRat

Sounds similar to the one they found in Dorset recently.

Pliosaur discovery: Huge sea monster emerges from Dorset cliffs

www.bbc.com...

Fossils are endlessly fascinating in my opinion.

You truly never know what we're going to find.

originally posted by: KKLOCO

originally posted by: Asher47
a reply to: KKLOCO

I have read that the reason animals aren't as large today.. specifically insect and arachnids (but I believe I also impacts other animals) is due to the lower oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Large PPM of CO2 in the atmosphere super fed the mega flora which released large amounts of oxygen. As our climate continues its cyclic change humans may once again....many many years down the road see large mega fauna again.

That's just my opinion.

I’ve read the same thing. Supposedly, co2 was around 35% back then and is around 22% now. How does that affect sea life though?

I believe there is a large exchange of gases at the oceans surface due to microorganisms as well as just plain gasses being absorbed by the seawater.

I think plankton are especially sensitive to CO2 and Oxygen levels in the water. And since they are often one of the first steps in the food chain, everything downstream from them is also affected.

Look into the12,000 year disaster cycle. Excessive radioactive energy is known to accelerate evolution. Such energy can and does come off of the Sun every 6,000 years, with a much more disastrous cycle every 12,000 years. This happens to line up with lots of extinctions. One could come to the conclusion that these creatures wouldn't necessarily have to die off but could just have their DNA altered and be bred out of existence. Who knows but that is a possibility reply to: KKLOCO

originally posted by: Asher47
a reply to: KKLOCO

I have read that the reason animals aren't as large today.. specifically insect and arachnids (but I believe I also impacts other animals) is due to the lower oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Large PPM of CO2 in the atmosphere super fed the mega flora which released large amounts of oxygen. As our climate continues its cyclic change humans may once again....many many years down the road see large mega fauna again.

That's just my opinion.

Yup! That's the scientists's best theory. And I side with them just because we have MANY surviving species who simply lost a whole lot of size but are still here. Mosquitos used to be large as eagles, sloths and beavers big as wooly mammoths, and some even say man stood 12 to 15 feet. Other than those survivors thou you have endless species of giant animals we never saw again tho.

a reply to: KKLOCO

ppm, not percentage. 100,000 ppm is 1%.
But yes, it's a valid theory

I couldn't help but feel a bit misled by the title; I was genuinely hoping for a discovery reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite stories, "The Loch Ness Monster." Unfortunately, it turned out to be about fossils, and that was quite disappointing.

Regarding the story itself, I want to express my gratitude for sharing it. It was indeed interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My only wish is that it had not centered around fossils. Nevertheless, I appreciate your efforts in presenting the information.

I know of a theory that before the great Biblical flood (of which I believe was much longer ago than biblical time line says) is that the atmosphere was significantly different.
The theory suggests that the earths atmosphere had a ring of water surrounding the planet at very high altitude. This was the water that fell as heavy rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Before this water fell not not only was the composition of the atmosphere different but that the atmospheric pressure was much higher. Roughly twice what it is now.
The theory states that this created healthier and stronger life forms across the board, and is why human species pre flood lived for several hundred years.
Modern science says an asteroid strike caused the pandemic extinction event. Perhaps an asteroid strike could have collapsed an atmospheric layer of water that surrounded the world?
I've been tempted to research this and start a thread but haven't done it

originally posted by: texas thinker
I know of a theory that before the great Biblical flood (of which I believe was much longer ago than biblical time line says) is that the atmosphere was significantly different.
The theory suggests that the earths atmosphere had a ring of water surrounding the planet at very high altitude. This was the water that fell as heavy rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Before this water fell not not only was the composition of the atmosphere different but that the atmospheric pressure was much higher. Roughly twice what it is now.
The theory states that this created healthier and stronger life forms across the board, and is why human species pre flood lived for several hundred years.
Modern science says an asteroid strike caused the pandemic extinction event. Perhaps an asteroid strike could have collapsed an atmospheric layer of water that surrounded the world?
I've been tempted to research this and start a thread but haven't done it

That is an interesting theory.

Please do research and post. I bet a lot people would like to read it.

originally posted by: SchrodingersRat

originally posted by: alwaysbeenhere2
hi

From what ive read (maybe wrong)
Crocodiles are still the oldest and have not changed in millions of years

Im probably wrong
usualy am on a saturday night

cheers

Good point. I think I've read that crocodiles have been around relatively unchanged for 200 million years.

200 million years.

Jesus God...

Were they bigger back then?

originally posted by: KKLOCO
a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

Yes, but virtually none of the huge species survived. The megafauna being another example. Everything got smaller. I’m curious why the massive ones all died off.

I guess a good answer is they needed a tremendous amount to eat every day. Maybe they starved out due to a lack of resources.

I agree with the OP, I’m glad they’re dead. I would never swim in the ocean with an animal like that in it.

I still keep coming back to C02 levels.
The trees were huge.

On your topic...I would never swim again

cheers

a reply to: texas thinker

I know of that theory. It is based upon where scripture says that God separated the waters from the waters. They claim it was waters above from waters below. Versions of the theory claim it was a layer of ice at the top of the atmosphere. There is no evidence for either version, and both are a case of making mountains out of molehills, as far as scripture itself is concerned. It is comparable to saying it never rained before the flood, based off of God causing a mist to fall on the Earth combined with the assumption that the rainbow was not a manifestation of a miracle.

Scripture does not say much about how the flood was caused. Him "breaking open the depths of the earth" could well have been done by asteroid impact. Scripture does not in any place discount the concept. We know that a rainbow is made by light refraction, something that involves a huge amount of concepts within physics concerning electromagnetism. If light did not refract before the flood, and did afterwards due to a change in the requisite physical laws, principles, and constants, how much would that affect the rest of physics? Would dating systems even be accurate with such a change?

I would expect them to be accurate up to the flood, but would predict a probable wild change in numbers the further back we go in time from the flood, consistent with observable error demonstrated in other mathematical systems, where a model predicts accurately until a function is engaged where inaccuracy is introduced. Something to think about.

The atmosphere could well have been denser. Evidence in the ice caps shows a much greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere than even exists today. Assuming equivalent gravity from then as now, a large asteroid impact could well blast off a portion of the atmosphere, lowering density.

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter which side of the coin you choose, evolution or creation, nothing either way is either provable or falsifiable. Both side utilize a great number of logical fallacies in the formulation of their theories, so neither is science in any applicable sense of the word.

a reply to: SchrodingersRat

Things like this keep my lily white ass out of the ocean.