The Details Of The Attack Shark Preserved In The Fossils Of Ancient Whale Bones

A piece of coast whale found in a mine in North Carolina, the band offers scientists a rare glimpse into the interactions between prehistoric sharks and whales about 3 - 4 million years ago during the Pliocene.

Three teeth marks on the rib of the whale indicates that once was severely bitten by an animal strong jaw. Judging by 6 inches between the teeth marks, scientists believe that the gunman was a mega Carcharocles megalodon shark teeth, or perhaps another species of shark that was alive at that time. The whale appeared to be an ancestor of a big blue bump.

"Certainly not expect to find evidence of animal behavior preserved in the fossil record, but this fossil proves that no predation," says Stephen Godfrey, a paleontologist at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland a Smithsonian research associate, who discovered fossils. "The shark may have disappeared with his mouth full, but not kill the whale"

Scientists have known whales survived, because "most of the fossil is covered by a fragment of bone is called bone tissue, which is formed rapidly in response to localized infection," said Don Ortner, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the authorities of the effects of disorders of bone. "Biomechanics bone is not very strong. Reshape the end of the compact bone of the body, but it takes time." CT to reveal evidence of inflammation consistent with infection of the bone marrow.

The presence of bone healing was incomplete and shows the dead whale, scientists believe that, between two and six weeks after the attack. The death of the whale may have been related to infection and injury, said Ortner. "We do not know why he died."

Based on the curvature of the jaw of the shark, as indicated in the arch of the impressions of your teeth, scientists believe that the shark was relatively small, between - 4 and 8 feet long.

Paleontology rich ", only a handful of fossils showing these types of interactions," says Godfrey. "There are lots of bite marks on the fossils to show how the animal is dead and his body was trapped. This dinosaurs fossil is one of the very few examples of how trauma clearly assigned to another animal, but also show that the victim survived the incident."

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.