In another remarkable scientific unearthing, palaeontologists have found the remains of a rare species of shark which swam nearly 93 million years ago. While sharks are deemed to be one of the most ancient creatures on the planet, it is the peculiar wing-like fins of this species that has left the researchers flabbergasted. As of now, no revelations have been made about its filtering mechanism for eating, but experts said that it appears to have been a slow-swimming shark that fed on plankton through filter-feeding, as plankton-eating whale sharks and basking sharks do today.
Credits: Oscar Sanisidro
About Aquilolamna Milarcae
In the study, which was published in the journal Science on Thursday, March 20, experts revealed that the fossils of the species- Aquilolamna Milarcae- was unearthed in Mexico’s state of Nuevo Leon. They further added that Aquilolamna possessed elongated wings like fins that rendered its body wider than it was long, eventually helping it to glide across the vastness of the ocean. Revealing further details, they said it’s fins spanned about 1.9 meters while it’s body’s length -head to tail- measured only 1.65 meters.
Credit: Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
Romain Vullo, the lead researcher of the study stressed that the shark’s slender pectoral fins "mainly acted as an effective stabilizer" and helped it swim. "Aquilolamna is indeed a perfect example of an extinct creature revealing an unexpected new morphology. This strongly suggests that other outstanding body shapes and morphological adaptations may have existed through the evolutionary history of sharks," Vullo said.
Furthermore, researchers said that Aquilolamna lived in the open ocean at a time when the seas were populated with marine reptiles, squid relatives with large shells called ammonites, various bony fishes, and large sharks. The largest predator in its ecosystem was a shark called Cretoxyrhina, measuring 20 feet long (6 meters).
(Representative Image/ Unsplash)
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2021-03-20 13:29:00Z
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