Ancient 'blue dragon', only heard in Japanese folklore till now, unearthed; baffle scientists

In a first, the fiercest ocean predator of all time – Wakayama 'blue dragon' – which has been mentioned among the mythic creatures of Japanese folklore and is estimated to have existed more than 72 million years ago in the western seas of the Pacific Ocean was unearthed,

This air-breathing creature, which was not a mammal, was about the size of a bus and belonged to a group of now-extinct marine lizards.

The marine lizards were known to have binocular vision, a long and powerful rudder of a tail, four enormous paddle-shaped limbs, and possibly a dorsal fin.

Scientists have been calling this creature Wakayama 'blue dragon' in Japan because of the place in which it was found and due to its mention in Japanese folklore.

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Scientists discover more about greatest predators of all time

Paleontologist Akihiro Misaki, who is from the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, originally discovered the extinct animal's nearly complete skeleton in 2006 near the Aridagawa River in Wakayama.

It took nearly five years to remove the bones from the stone in which they were buried. The 6-metre-long creature's formal description has now classified it as mosasaur's whole new species, called Megapterygius wakayamaensis.

It has proved a challenge for scientists to figure out how they swam or hunted. "We lack any modern analogue that has this kind of body morphology – from fish to penguins to sea turtles," said palaeontologist Takuya Konishi from the University of Cincinnati. "None has four large flippers they use in conjunction with a tail fin,” he added.

Mosasaurs were among the greatest predators of all time which stretched up to 17 metres in a few cases. For around 20 million years, these fearsome beasts had been reigning in the ocean as the last of the great marine lizards.

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As per scientists, their cutting teeth and crushing jaws can take just anything from shellfish to turtles to sharks. They were even able to eat others of their kind.

Expert on the monstrous marine lizards Konishi said that he understood mosasaurs till he saw the Wakayama blue dragon. The species' paddle-shaped flippers, especially the ones on the back, are unusually long in comparison to other mosasaur fossils which are found elsewhere in the world, like California, New Zealand and Morocco.

The spines on its vertebrae also appear different and share similarities with dolphins and porpoises.

(With inputs from agencies)