{"id":457975,"date":"2026-03-05T00:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/457975\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T00:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:31:08","slug":"new-dinosaur-species-discovered-by-scientists-is-gurning-sea-creature-from-brazil-research-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/457975\/","title":{"rendered":"New dinosaur species discovered by scientists is gurning sea creature from Brazil, research reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have unearthed a peculiar prehistoric creature featuring a contorted jaw and teeth that faced sideways rather than upwards.<\/p>\n

The animal’s mouth appeared so unusual that researchers believed it must have suffered from some form of abnormality.<\/p>\n

Only after discovering eight additional specimens with identical jaw structures did the team conclude this was the creature’s natural look.<\/p>\n

Named “Tanyka amnicola”, this species inhabited modern-day Brazil around 275 million years ago.<\/p>\n

The animal belongs to the tetrapod group, which encompasses four-limbed vertebrates including modern reptiles, birds, mammals and amphibians.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the Field Museum determined its peculiar jaw structure meant it had to eat in an unusual way.<\/p>\n

Its lower jaw featured a twist that caused the teeth to project outwards to either side instead of pointing upward.<\/p>\n

The portion of jawbone that would typically face the tongue in humans instead pointed towards the roof of the mouth in Tanyka.<\/p>\n

\"Tankya<\/p>\n

Researchers at the Field Museum determined its peculiar jaw structure meant Tankya had to eat in an unusual way<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

VITOR SILVA<\/p>\n

This surface was covered with tiny teeth known as denticles, creating a grinding texture resembling a cheese grater.<\/p>\n

Rather than chewing their food conventionally, these creatures ground it against their teeth, making them pioneers of this feeding technique.<\/p>\n

“Tanyka is from an ancient lineage that we didn’t know survived to this time, and it’s also just a really strange animal,” said Jason Pardo from the Field Museum in Chicago, who headed the research.<\/p>\n

“The jaw has this weird twist that drove us crazy trying to figure it out.”<\/p>\n

REMARKABLE FINDS – READ THE LATEST:<\/p>\n

\"Tankya<\/p>\n

The animal’s mouth appeared so unusual that researchers believed it must have suffered from some form of abnormality<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

KEN ANGIELCZYK\/FIELD MUSEUM<\/p>\n

“We were scratching our heads over this for years, wondering if it was some kind of deformation.”<\/p>\n

“But at this point, we’ve got nine jaws from this animal, and they all have this twist, including the really, really well-preserved ones.”<\/p>\n

“So it’s not a deformation, it’s just the way the animal was made.”<\/p>\n

Much about Tanyka amnicola remains unknown to scientists.<\/p>\n

\"Tankya's<\/p>\n

This surface was covered with tiny teeth known as denticles, creating a grinding texture<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

KEN ANGIELCZYK \/ FIELD MUSEUM<\/p>\n

The creature’s overall appearance presents the greatest mystery, as only jaw fossils have been recovered thus far.<\/p>\n

Researchers estimate the animal may have reached lengths of up to three feet and likely dwelt in freshwater lakes.<\/p>\n

When the animal roamed the Earth, the planet was experiencing a hot “greenhouse revival”, enabling a surge in marine life. <\/p>\n

Sea temperatures were around 25C on average, with oceans in tropical areas rising to 42C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists have unearthed a peculiar prehistoric creature featuring a contorted jaw and teeth that faced sideways rather than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[8870,59,50,90,2331,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-457975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-archaeology","tag-gb","tag-news","tag-science","tag-sgg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}