The dugongine sea cow wasn't just attacked by a shark, but by a crocodile, as well. Not a good day to be an ancient sea cow. Not at all. The post Sea Cow Fossil Shows Evidence of An Ancient Shark ...

The sea cow, which belongs to the genus Culebratherium, died after the crocodile performed a “death roll” while grasping its prey, a behaviour commonly observed in modern counterparts.

An illustration of an ancient sea cow under attack from a crocodile. A fossil found in Venezuela shows signs of being attacked by a crocodile and then scavenged by a shark.

Two further large incisions indicate that the crocodile then likely executed a “death roll” while grasping the sea cow. This behavior is still commonly observed in modern crocodiles .

Then, the sea cow was picked apart by a tiger shark, which has narrow, non-serrated teeth. Differentiating between marks of active predation and scavenging can be challenging, but according to the ...