CNN —An unusual ancient marine reptile may have gulped down tons of shrimplike prey using a feeding technique similar to one used by some modern whales. Fang et al/Courtesy University of BristolBut there hasn’t been much evidence in the fossil record for ancient reptiles using filter feeding, until now. These structures are similar to what’s seen in baleen whales, which have strips of keratin instead of teeth. “Baleen whales have grooves along the jaws to support curtains of baleen, long thin strips of keratin, the protein that makes hair, feathers and fingernails. It’s possible that the marine reptile didn’t start out with this ability.

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Persons: Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, ”, Long Cheng, et, Li Tian, Hupehsuchus, Zichen Fang, Michael Benton, It’s Organizations: CNN, BMC, Wuhan Center, China Geological Survey, University of Bristol, China University of Geosciences, University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences Locations: China, Hubei province, China University of Geosciences Wuhan