Chinese paleontologists have made an intriguing discovery by uncovering two new species of lampreys from 160-million-year-old fossils. Lampreys, jawless fish resembling eels, are commonly thought of as parasitic organisms, using their disc-shaped mouths and sharp teeth to attach to prey and feed on their blood.
However, the two species discovered in China had a distinctive behavior. Instead of simply sucking blood, they were found to be flesh-eaters, using their powerful bite to scoop out flesh from their prey. Their bite was so forceful that it could even crack their prey’s skeleton.
These two unique species were unearthed in a fossil bed in North China. The larger of the two lamprey fossils measures approximately 23 inches in length and is named Yanliaomyzon occisor, with “occisor” meaning “killer” in Latin. The smaller species, measuring about 11 inches long, is named Yanliaomyzon ingensdentes, with the name derived from Latin words for “large teeth.”
These well-preserved fossils provided researchers with clear insights into the creatures’ biting structures and oral discs. They are particularly valuable because they allow scientists to study the oral apparatus of lampreys from the dinosaur age more closely than ever before.
These newly discovered species serve as a crucial missing link between the earliest lampreys and the 31 surviving lamprey species known today. The lampreys found in these fossils lived during the Jurassic period, alongside dinosaurs.
Earlier lamprey fossils, dating back around 360 million years to the Paleozoic era, reveal that the early lampreys were considerably smaller, around one inch in length, and had underdeveloped feeding structures. This suggests that they did not feed on blood or flesh. Additionally, these early lampreys did not go through metamorphosis to change life forms, in contrast to modern lampreys, which are larger, have more complex teeth, and go through three distinct life stages.
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