An artifact that’s getting long in the tooth was discovered by scientists in the Swiss Alps, according to a report.
Measured with a base of 2.4 inches, the “incomplete tooth,” believed to have belonged to an ancient sea monster, was discovered along with the vertebrae and rib remains of two ichthyosaurs, according to a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on Wednesday. The fossil of one of the aquatic reptiles was measured at roughly 49 feet, while the other was said to be nearly 69 feet, the authors wrote of their discovery in the Kossen Formation, a geological formation in the Alps, between 1976 and 1990.
The tooth was described as being “twice as large as any aquatic reptile known,” Martin Sander, the lead author of the study and paleontologist at the University of Bonn in Germany, said in a statement.
A PLANT NAMED ‘GASTERANTHUS EXTINCTUS’ IS NO LONGER EXTINCT
Bearing a similarity to whales and dolphins, ichthyosaurs are described as having “elongated bodies and erect tail fins,” the statement read. Despite previous discoveries in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia, there is still much that is unknown about the reptiles.
An ichthyosaur could have been the size of a blue whale, according to an “enormous toothless jaw bone” studied by researchers from the United Kingdom.
“It amounts to a major embarrassment for paleontology that we know so little about these giant ichthyosaurs despite the extraordinary size of their fossils,” Sander said of the varying information, expressing hope for the discovery of new fossils.
Researchers hope to continue their studies of the ichthyosaur by looking beyond what researcher Heinz Furrer termed “the thickest tooth found to date and the largest trunk vertebra in Europe.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Maybe there are more remains of the giant sea creatures hidden beneath the glaciers,” Sander suggested in the statement.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Sander for a statement but did not receive a response.
