BIG FISH!
Giant 9-foot ‘super salmon’ with ‘tusk-like teeth’ to fight predators 15 million years ago found in U.S. is largest ever
Scientists have abandoned the creature's original name
AN ENORMOUS salmon species that swam as far back as 15 million years ago had giant tusk-like teeth.
The so-called "spike-toothed salmon" may have grown to a staggering 8.9 feet – dwarfing any human.
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It would have lived in what today is the North American Pacific Northwest.
Scientists say the official name is Oncorhynchus rastrosus, and was previously nicknamed the sabre-toothed salmon when it was first described in the 1970s.
But new research using CT scans on fossils have revealed that its teeth would've pointed sideways out of its mouth.
These warthog-style tusks mean scientists are now renaming the fish as "spike-toothed salmon".
The fossils suggest that the creatures could've reached nearly nine feet long, making them the largest salmon ever to swim on Earth.
And they may have used their tusks to fend off predators.
Modern salmon max out at around five feet in size at the extreme end, and don't have tusks.
"We have known for decades that these extinct salmon from Central Oregon were the largest to ever live," said lead author Kerin Claeson, a professor at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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"Discoveries like ours show they probably weren't gentle giants.
"These massive spikes at the tip of their snouts would have been useful to defend against predators, compete against other salmon, and ultimately build the nests where they would incubate their eggs."
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GET TO THE TOOTH
Researchers originally thought that the salmon's giant front teeth would've pointed backwards into the mouth like fangs.
Part of the confusion came from the fact that the teeth were found separately from the skull.
But new analysis has revealed the truth about how these ancient salmon would've looked.
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"I'm delighted that we have been able to put a new face on the giant spike-tooth salmon, bringing knowledge from the field in Oregon to the world," said Edward Davis, associate professor of earth sciences at the University of Oregon.
Scientists also point out that the teeth wouldn't have been used to catch pray.
That's because the fish is described as a "filter-feeder" – filtering out plankton from the water.
Interestingly, it's believed that the tusks featured on all members of the species.
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Heaviest living animals
Here's the list..
Blue whale – 110 tonnes (average mass), 79 feet (average length)
North Pacific right whale – 60 tonnes (average mass), 51 feet (average length)
Southern right whale – 58 tonnes (average mass), 50 feet (average length)
Fin whale – 57 tonnes (average mass), 64 feet (average length)
Bowhead whale – 54.5 tonnes (average mass), 49 feet (average length)
North Atlantic right whale – 54 tonnes (average mass), 49 feet (average length)
Sperm whale – 31.25 tonnes (average mass), 43.5 feet (average length)
Humpback whale – 29 tonnes (average mass), 44 feet (average length)
Sei whale – 22.5 tonnes (average mass), 49 feet (average length)
Gray whale – 19.5 tonnes (average mass), 44 feet (average length)
"We also stress that females and males alike possessed the enormous, tusk-like teeth," said Brian Sidlauskas, professor and curator of fishes at Oregon State University.
"Therefore, the sexes were equally fearsome."
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