Unlucky ancient sea cow eaten by a croc AND a shark!

Scientists think a crocodile and a shark attacked the same ancient sea cow

Once upon a time, millions of years ago, ancient sea cows swam in the oceans on prehistoric Earth.

The animals were similar to modern day manatees.

Now, scientists analysing a fossilised sea cow skeleton, have made a grisly discovery.

They believe that the ancient sea cow they were studying died after being attacked by a crocodile and a shark!

Bite marks from a tiger shark were found on the sea cow skeleton

The ancient animal's remains were uncovered in western Venezuela back in 2019 and at first didn't draw much interest.

However, after a closer look scientists realised that the creature had been bitten by two very different animals.

The researchers said the findings mark one of the sole specimen examples of a creature being attacked by two different predators during the Miocene epoch, a period around 23 million to 11.6 million years ago.

The study is helping scientists learn more about the importance of sea cows in the prehistoric food chain.

An artist’s impression of an ancient sea cow being attacked by a crocodile

Lead-author Aldo Benites-Palomino, from the department of paleontology at the University of Zurich, said:

"Our findings constitute one of the few records documenting multiple predators over a single prey, and as such provide a glimpse of food chain networks in this region during the Miocene."

The study wasn't simple though.

The researchers said several trips were needed to excavate the skeleton, followed by months of preparation to restore and then study the fossil.

The scientists found deep tooth impacts on the sea cow that they believe came from a crocodile, and then the team discovered the tooth of a tiger shark in the sea cow's neck, along with shark bite marks all over the skeleton.