Peruvian paleontologists present fossil of grandfather of the great white shark

Lime. A group of Peruvian paleontologists presented to grandfather of the white sharka nine million year old fossil.

“We are showing a very important find, which is the complete fossilized shark Cosmopolitodus hatalis“paleontologist César Chacaltana told Afp at the end of the exhibition in Lima.

The expert from the (state) Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute pointed out that the fossil corresponds to a young specimen which would be the grandfather of the current white shark.

It is approximately nine million years oldaccurate.

The shark moved in the waters of what is now the Ocucaje desert, in the Ica region.

The fossil, measuring one and a half meters long, was found in good condition in 2013 in that area located about 350 kilometers south of Lima.

The shark has a fully developed skull with scattered teeth (…) and a vertebral columnhe highlighted.

Adult individuals of this type of shark could reach up to nine meters.

The discovery was made jointly by the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute and the Natural History Museum of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos.

These fossils are hidden treasures in the deserts. Peru has territories that are exceptionally fossilizedsaid Chacaltana.

He Cosmopolitodus hastalis He lived in Peru between the Oligocene era and the beginning of the Pleistocene.

For researchers, the Ocucaje desert is a kind of archaeological treasure. There they have found fossils of four-legged dwarf whales, dolphins, sharks and other species between 5 and 23 million years old.