'Godzilla' Shark Discovered in New Mexico Gets Formal Name
Voice of America
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - The 300-million-year-old shark's teeth were the first sign that it might be a distinct species.
The ancient chompers looked less like the spearlike rows of teeth of related species. They were squatter and shorter, less than an inch long, around 2 centimeters. "Great for grasping and crushing prey rather than piercing prey," said discoverer John-Paul Hodnett, who was a graduate student when he unearthed the first fossils of the shark at a dig east of Albuquerque in 2013. This week, Hodnett and a slew of other researchers published their findings in a bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science identifying the shark as a separate species.Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, center, prepares for a sentencing hearing in state district court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 15, 2024. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool) FILE - A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 23, 2021.
Performers take part in the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Actress Mary Mina, playing a priestess, hands an olive branch to the first torch bearer, Greek olympic gold medalist Stefanos Douskos, during the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Actress Mary Mina, playing a priestess, lights the flame during the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Performers take part in the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024.
FILE - Canada's Chloe Dufour-Lapointe competes in a World Cup freestyle moguls competition at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 14, 2022. A scoreboard at the University of Utah promotes Salt Lake City's bid to host another Winter Olympics in 2034 as International Olympic Committee members prepare to tour the stadium and other venues April 10, 2024, in Salt Lake City. The 2002 Winter Olympic rings are shown outside Rice-Eccles Stadium, April 10, 2024, in Salt Lake City.