Peru surprised the scientific world by presenting a spectacular fossil of an extinct relative of the great white shark, approximately nine million years old, that once inhabited the waters of the southern Pacific Ocean. The revelation coincided with the celebration of the first National Day of Paleontology in the country.
The nearly complete fossil, named Cosmopolitodus hastalis, was discovered in the Pisco Basin, about 235 kilometers south of Lima. The finding is considered a testament to the paleontological richness that the Peruvian territory harbors.
Adult specimens of the shark could grow to about seven meters long, which is the size of a small boat. The shark is now extinct, but its teeth once reached up to 8.9 centimeters (3.5 inches) in length. Researchers presented the ancient shark's remains in several glass cases, including a giant, sharp-toothed jaw in one container and the spinal cord and teeth in others.
“The shark's remains showed exceptional fossilization,” said César Augusto Chacaltana, an engineer at the Peruvian Geological and Mining Institute (INGEMMET). “The type of exceptional fossilization that exists in our territory, and in few parts of the planet, is reflected in this fossil,” he added. “The shark does not have bony bones; it is cartilaginous, and the soft material is very difficult to turn into stone, as has happened in our territory,” he explained.
“There are not many complete shark fossils in the world,” said paleontologist Mario Urbina at the presentation, adding that numerous sardine fish remains were found in the shark's stomach. Urbina noted that as anchovies did not yet exist when the shark roamed the open seas and oceans, sardines formed a staple diet for marine predators.
The giant shark fossil is probably an ancestor of the great white shark, the large marine predator known for its aggressiveness. Sardines were present in the region more than 10 million years ago but are not found in the Peruvian sea today.
The Pisco Basin is a hot, desert area famed for frequent discoveries of ancient marine species and was an extensive sea in ancient times, making it a reservoir of marine fossils. The district of Ocucaje has consolidated itself as an area of great paleontological relevance, similar to the fossil-rich Pisco Basin. In the Ocucaje Desert, remains of whales, dolphins, and other species from the Miocene epoch have been found, including the discovery of Perucetus colossus, the heaviest animal that has ever existed on Earth. The latter was larger than any dinosaur and its weight ranged from 85 to 340 tons.
In April last year, researchers displayed the fossilized skull of the largest river dolphin known to date, which once inhabited the Amazon some 16 million years ago.
The National Day of Paleontology in Peru was established by law in honor of the birth of Dr. José Sebastián Barranca Lovera, a pioneer of natural sciences and the first professor of Paleontology at the National University of San Marcos.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.