Paleontologists Reconstruct Four-Million-Year-Old Shark Attack

Palaeontologists have discovered evidence of how an extinct shark attacked its prey, reconstructing a killing that took place 4 million years ago. Such fossil evidence of behavior is incredibly rare, but by careful, forensic-style analysis of bite marks on an otherwise well-preserved dolphin skeleton, the research team say they have reconstructed the events that led to the death of the dolphin, and likely determined the identity of the killer: a 4 m shark called Cosmopolitodus hastalis. The evidence, published in Palaeontology, comes from the fossilized skeleton of a 2.8 m long dolphin (Astadelphis gastaldii) discovered in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. read more

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