Washington, Apr. 21 : Utah State paleontologists have discovered the fossil of a shark-eating dinosaur.

According to paleontologist James Kirkland, the fossil’s anatomical features and track marks suggest that it specialized in eating and catching fish, including sharks and huge bony fish that, when consumed, would have been “like biting through chain mail”.

Kirkland further told Discovery News that the fish-loving dinosaur was related to the crested dino Dilophosaurus.

“These (dinosaurs) got up to 18-20 feet in length, 6-7 feet high at the hips, and weighed between 750-1,000 pounds,” explained Andrew Milner, city paleontologist at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site on Johnson Farm, Utah, where the excavations took place.

Long, sharp teeth at the front of the dinosaur’s mouth helped to keep fish from flying out, said Kirkland, while other, more slender teeth had “steak-knife serration” wear patterns between the tip and the gum line.

“The only other meat-eating dinosaurs with teeth worn like that are the spinosaurs Spinosaurus and Suchimimus from North Africa where large…fish dominated,” said Kirkland.

Perhaps the most dramatic finds at the site are the dinosaur track marks. Milner said these belonged to several creatures including other dinosaur species, other reptiles and early ancestors of mammals.

The tracks show how the fish-eating dinosaur would wade out into the lake, sometimes “chest deep,” according to Kirkland.

It’s likely the dinosaur went into the lake to catch sharks and other fish, said Kirkland. This was no easy task, as indicated by “floundering” dinosaur claw scrapes and other marks found at the bottom of the lake. (ANI)