It's good that they died out: giant megapiranha of antiquity

Predatory piranhas that live in the rivers of the Amazon basin are considered one of the most ferocious and bloodthirsty fish on our planet. Despite their modest size, such fish, hunting in packs, are able to defeat the enemy, much larger and stronger than themselves. But these piranhas seem like cute creatures compared to their ancient cousin, who was huge in size and had incredible bite power.

The remains of a giant piranha, or megapiranha (lat. Megapiranha paranensis), were discovered by scientists in South America, in the area of the Argentine city of Parana. At the disposal of scientists was a part of the jaw and several teeth of an ancient fish, which supposedly lived here 8-10 million years ago. Judging by the size of these remains, the modern descendants of megapiranha were crushed very much, which, of course, for the better. If modern predatory piranhas reach the size of 50 centimeters, then ancient megapiranha, according to paleontologists, could reach 120 centimeters in length.

A distinctive feature of piranhas, both modern and their common ancient ancestor, is their incredibly powerful jaws. Nature rewarded these fish with the power of a bite, which in no way correlates with their modest size, but all because the piranha jaws have a very peculiar structure. It turns out that the powerful muscle complex located in the lower jaw is responsible for the gripping mechanism, and the tight and thick tendon that attaches to the lower jaw forms a powerful lever. And if the piranha grabs its victim, then that one will not succeed in escaping.

The giant piranha, which lived millions of years ago in South America, has another interesting feature. Her teeth do not form one or two rows, but are arranged in a zigzag pattern. This position of the teeth, in comparison with the existing types, is something in between. Modern carnivorous piranhas have one row of very sharp teeth, while herbivorous species (and there are some among piranhas) have two rows of teeth that are better suited for eating coarse plant foods.