![]() This combination of traits convinced the researchers that what they were looking at was a new genus and species. And then in other ways, they’re completely unique to this individual,” Zietlow said. “He’s got features that look in some ways like Mosasaurus, in some ways like Clidastes. Meanwhile, the angle and number of teeth on a bony palate at the roof of its mouth were unlike anything seen in either of those two mosasaur groups. But the shape and high number of its teeth were a closer match to a genus of smaller mosasaurs: Clidastes. Its ear bones, which were somewhat rectangular, resembled those of Mosasaurus, the genus of mosasaur giants. ![]() When the scientists examined the skull, they quickly realized they had something unusual on their hands. In fact, Zietlow said, NDGS 10838 was discovered in a hillside by someone who had participated in one of the agency’s programs, and who was therefore able to recognize the object as a fossil and knew to alert agency officials. The fossil was collected in 2015 by the North Dakota Geological Survey, a state agency dedicated to geology and public education about minerals and fossils. ![]() A mix of features in the bones of its skull made it unexpectedly challenging for the scientists to classify the newcomer and hinted that the mosasaur group includes more diverse forms than expected, the study authors reported. Yet in other ways, the animal was one of a kind. In general, Jormungandr walhallaensis resembled most mosasaurs - “kind of like if you took a Komodo dragon, made it 30 feet long and gave it flippers and a shark tail,” Zietlow told CNN. In life, the animal would have measured about 24 feet (7.3 meters) long and had a long face slimmer than those of its mosasaur cousins, said lead study author Amelia Zietlow, a paleontologist and doctoral candidate at the American Museum of Natural History’s Richard Gilder Graduate School in New York City. It includes a near-complete skull with a bony ridge over the eyes as well as jaws and some skeletal parts, including 11 ribs and 12 vertebrae. The fossil itself has a somewhat less poetic name: NDGS 10838. ‘Once in a lifetime’ fossil reveals a dinosaur and mammal locked in mortal combat Repenomamus robustus attacks Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis moments before a volcanic debris flow buries them both, ca.
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