14 DAY TRIAL // Specialists with the University of Edinburgh and the Natural History Museum in London have recently had the chance to examine an ancient tooth and have concluded that it most likely comes from a distant relative of modern crocodiles.
The fossilized tooth, a picture of which is available above, measures about 5.5 centimeters (about 2.16 inches) in length and is said to be the longest of its kind to have until now been discovered in the United Kingdom.
The tooth was pulled out of the sea floor close to Chesil Beach in Dorset, southern England, quite a while ago, and has recently been bought by a collector who took part in an online auction.
Despite the fact that its tip is broken, the tooth is still quite scary to look at, and, by the looks of it, the ancient beast that used to carry it in its mouth was even scarier, Science Daily tells us.
Thus, the University of Edinburgh and the Natural History Museum researcher who have studied it say the tooth used to belong to a Dakosaurus maximus, a crocodile-like animal that lived in Europe about 152 million years ago.
Evidence uncovered until now indicates that the average Dakosaurus maximus measured about 4.5 meters (roughly 14.76 feet) in length. These beasts had a mouth similar to that of modern killer whales and inhabited shallow seas.