According to the BBC, researchers from the University of Bath in the UK examined skeletal remains found in a mine in Khouribga, Morocco.
Researchers identified the remains as belonging to a new species of the mosasaur family, about 8 meters long, with a “terrifying face and teeth like knives”, and said that this sea lizard was one of the top predators at the top of the food chain in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco.
Noting that the sea lizard whose remains were found may have lived around 66 million years ago at the same time as dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex), the researchers named this mosasaur species “khinjaria acuta” because of its sharp teeth.
Scientists created the name by combining the Arabic word “khinjar” meaning “dagger” and the Latin word “acuta” meaning “sharp”.
Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that lived in Antarctica during the time of the dinosaurs and became extinct.
The results of the study were published on the website “Science Direct”.
