Image courtesy of Henry Sharpe.
Joel Kontinen
Why is
a never-before-seen fossil of a marine reptile a forgery? Most of the scientist
say so. It is not the first fake in science.
”Remnants of a
bizarre “shark-toothed” aquatic predator that lived alongside dinosaurs were
probably forged, according to new research.
the contentious fossil of a jaw fragment was apparently
collected by miners working at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco, in
rock that is 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, and his
colleagues analysed the find and classified it as a new species of
mosasaur named Xenodens calminechari in 2021.
The
fossil possesses highly unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks,
which Longrich and his colleagues suggested would help carve up large prey.
Morocco is
uniquely rich in mosasaur fossils, says Henry Sharpe at the University of Alberta in Canada. “Miners
working in the phosphate mines come across mosasaurs all the time.”
The problem is
many people in Morocco make a living selling fossils, says Sharpe. “So many of
the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified [there] – teeth are
added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell.”
Source:
Taylor Mitchell Brown 2025 Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery | New Scientist 16 January
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