Palaeontology

Fossils of giant otter unearthed in China

By T.K. Randall
January 23, 2017

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Dating back over six million years and weighing in at 100 pounds, these huge semi-aquatic mammals were thought to have once thrived in the shallow swamplands of ancient China.

The species was identified following the discovery of three partial skeletons and a complete skull and mandible at the Shuitangba Site in northeastern Yunnan Province, southwest China."While the cranium is incredibly complete, it was flattened during the fossilization process," said research team leader Denise Su from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

"The bones were so delicate that we could not physically restore the cranium. Instead, we CT-scanned the specimen and virtually reconstructed it in a computer."

Twice the size of today's otters, these enormous animals possessed powerful jaws and enlarged teeth that would have enabled them to crack open clams and other shellfish with ease.

Source: Gizmodo

Tags: Otter