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Giant predatory shark fossil unearthed in Kansas
bbc ^ | 24 February 2010 | Matt Walker

Posted on 02/24/2010 9:51:06 AM PST by JoeProBono

The fossilised remains of a gigantic 10m-long predatory shark have been unearthed in Kansas, US.

Scientists dug up a gigantic jawbone, teeth and scales belonging to the shark which lived 89 million years ago. The bottom-dwelling predator had huge tooth plates, which it likely used to crush large shelled animals such as giant clams.

Palaeontologists already knew about the shark, but the new specimen suggests it was far bigger than previously thought.

The scientists who made the discovery, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, last week also released details of other newly discovered giant plankton-eating fish that swam in prehistoric seas for more than 100 million years.

The size of the jaw fragment in fact supports the contention that P. mortoni was a gigantic animal Dr Kenshu Shimada, DePaul University But this new fish, called Ptychodus mortoni, is both bigger and more fierce, having a taste for flesh rather than plankton.

It may even have been the largest shellfish-eating animal ever to have roamed the Earth.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: fossil; godsgravesglyphs; jpb; kansas; shark
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To: JoeProBono

21 posted on 02/24/2010 10:15:01 AM PST by stormer
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To: JoeProBono

CANDYGRAM.


22 posted on 02/24/2010 10:15:55 AM PST by GonzoGOP (There are millions of paranoid people in the world and they are all out to get me.)
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To: stormer

23 posted on 02/24/2010 10:16:22 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: GonzoGOP

24 posted on 02/24/2010 10:17:45 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: SERE_DOC

Why do you hate the ocean? Just curious.


25 posted on 02/24/2010 10:24:26 AM PST by vigilo
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To: ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY

Not usually. When deer browse my trees, the trees don’t die. When cattle graze, the grass is still alive. There is plant predation where the entire plant is consumed, but often those plants annuals that have already completed their life cycle.


26 posted on 02/24/2010 10:25:12 AM PST by stormer
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To: JoeProBono

An excellent example of predation.


27 posted on 02/24/2010 10:27:09 AM PST by stormer
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To: stormer

ARE annuals


28 posted on 02/24/2010 10:27:42 AM PST by stormer
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To: JoeProBono

Wow!


29 posted on 02/24/2010 10:31:12 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: JoeProBono

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”


30 posted on 02/24/2010 10:33:27 AM PST by wbill
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To: JoeProBono

Kansas, huh? Aren’t there those that claim there is no evidence the entire planet was ever covered in water? Interesting, very, very interesting...


31 posted on 02/24/2010 10:39:46 AM PST by dubyagee (Thrilled to be here...)
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To: wbill

32 posted on 02/24/2010 10:40:45 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: vigilo

33 posted on 02/24/2010 11:07:56 AM PST by SERE_DOC (My Rice Krispies told me to stay home & clean my weapons! How does one clean a phase 4 plasma rifle)
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To: stormer

An organism that eats plankton is called a planktivore, correct?


34 posted on 02/24/2010 11:10:57 AM PST by Eagle Eye (The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.)
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To: Eagle Eye

No, its called a customer at the Krabby Patty.


35 posted on 02/24/2010 11:13:15 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: HamiltonJay
<<>>
36 posted on 02/24/2010 11:17:01 AM PST by Eagle Eye (The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.)
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To: Eagle Eye

Sure - but it’s still predation.


37 posted on 02/24/2010 11:17:04 AM PST by stormer
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To: stormer

Agreed, but next time you say fume when you mean vapor or vapor when you mean gas or mist when you mean aerosol I’ll be all over you like a predator on prey! LOL


38 posted on 02/24/2010 11:37:53 AM PST by Eagle Eye (The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.)
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To: Eagle Eye

Up with that I will not put. I speak good.


39 posted on 02/24/2010 11:44:13 AM PST by stormer
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To: JoeProBono

If scientists discover a fossil on Mars, would it be correct to say that it had been “unmarsed”...or does unearthed still apply?


40 posted on 02/24/2010 11:47:01 AM PST by GSWarrior
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