Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

An international team of scientists from the UK, the Netherlands, and Australia has uncovered a previously unknown species of shark that lived off the British coast 70 million years ago. The predator, named Pararhincodon torquis, is an ancient relative of modern collared carpet sharks but with distinct and unique anatomical features, Azernews reports.

Paleontologists studied two fossilized skeletons that had been preserved at the Natural History Museum in London for decades. Initially classified as members of the genus Synechodus, CT scans and microscopic tooth analysis—measuring only a few millimeters—revealed that these fossils belonged to an entirely new shark species.

One of the most intriguing discoveries is that Pararhincodon torquis had three dorsal fin bases, whereas modern carpet sharks typically have only two. This finding challenges existing theories about the evolutionary development of carpet sharks and suggests that the group’s ancestral lineage was more diverse than previously thought.

Interestingly, modern descendants of Pararhincodon torquis still inhabit the coasts of Asia and Australia, but how this species migrated to such distant regions remains an open question, one that scientists aim to investigate in future studies.

The researchers emphasized that the discovery of Pararhincodon torquis fills a crucial gap in the evolutionary history of carpet sharks. It provides key insights into the development of these fascinating creatures, showing how they evolved over millions of years to adapt to different environments.

The collared carpet shark, which is a descendant of Pararhincodon torquis, is known for its distinctive, colorful patterns and is often found in coral reefs. It’s fascinating to think that the ancient sharks from the British coast may have been the early pioneers of these vibrant and elusive creatures in today's oceans!