150-million-year-old shark fossil unearthed in Germany.

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A team of paleontologists in Germany have unearthed a shark fossil believed to be more than 150 million-years-old. 9News

The team from Austria and Switzerland located the remains in the limestones of Solnhofen, about 126 kilometres north of Munich.

The University of Vienna's Dr Sebastian Stumpf said the fossil is that of a Hybodontiform shark , which survived two of the big five Phanerozoic mass extinctions 361 million-years-ago before finally becoming extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period about 66 million-years-ago.

While the Asteracanthus was scientifically described more than 180 years ago by Swiss-American naturalist Louis Agassiz, who examined the fossil of just an isolated dorsal fin spine, this is believed to be the the first time articulated fossil remains have been found, according to Dr Stumpf.His team say the Asteracanthus had more than 150 teeth and was an active predator feeding on a variety of animals.

 

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