Friday 5 June 2015

new giant marine fossil finds



Scientists Discover 7-Foot ‘Lobster’ Fossils
New Haven, Conn. (CBS CONNECTICUT) — Paleontologists discovered human-sized “lobsters” that lived on earth 480 million years ago, with the 7-foot sea monsters being some of the largest animals alive during that time period.
The newly-discovered marine monster, named Aegirocassis benmoulae, was discovered by Moroccan fossil hunter Mohamed Ben Moula, Sci-News reports. The finding reveals animals that were unique to any other arthropods at the time.“This would have been one of the largest animals alive at the time,” said Dr. Allison Daley of Oxford University, co-author of the paper published in the journal Nature. “These animals are filling an ecological role that hadn’t previously been filled by any other animal.”
This comes as researchers discovered giant shark fossils the size of two-story buildings just outside Fort Worth, Texas. The massive predators prowled shallow sea water 100 million years ago, according to study co-author Joseph Frederickson of the University of Oklahoma.
The ancient sea monster, Leptostyrax macrorhiza, may push back scientists’ estimations of when such gigantic sharks evolved, LiveScience reports.

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