Photo by Velizar Simeonovski, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Remains of a previously unidentified species of shark dating back to the cretaceous period were discovered in a prehistoric river bed in South Dakota. The freshwater shark, Galagadon nordquistae, was named after the video game Galaga due to its tiny teeth which resembles the game’s alien ships.
The findings were reported in the latest edition of the Journal of Paleontology.
“It may seem odd today, but about 67 million years ago, what is now South Dakota was covered in forests, swamps and winding rivers,” said Terry Gates, Terry Gates, lecturer at North Carolina State University and research affiliate with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. “Galagadon was not swooping in to prey on T. rex, Triceratops, or any other dinosaurs that happened into its streams. This shark had teeth that were good for catching small fish or crushing snails and crawdads.”
The Galaga shark, which is closely related to modern-day wobbegongs and only reached a maximum length of 18 inches, was discovered in the same rock formation as the most complete Tyrannosaurus. rex specimen ever. The tiny teeth of the Galaga shark, which measured less than a millimeter across, were discovered in the sediment left behind when paleontologists at the Field Museum uncovered the famous T-Rex fossil.
“It amazes me that we can find microscopic shark teeth sitting right beside the bones of the largest predators of all time,” Gates said. “These teeth are the size of a sand grain. Without a microscope you’d just throw them away.”
Gates sifted through nearly two tons of dirt along with volunteer Karen Nordquist, who is also given a nod in the species’ nomenclature. Together, they recovered over two dozen teeth belonging to the Galaga shark.
Even though it may not be as ferocious as its contemporary cousin, megalodon, Gates described the discovery of Galagadon as an important addition to the fossil record.
“Every species in an ecosystem plays a supporting role, keeping the whole network together,” he said. “There is no way for us to understand what changed in the ecosystem during the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous without knowing all the wonderful species that existed before.”