Two Atopodentatus restorations, both by Nobu Tamura. The first was produced shortly after the initial description was published and is, admittedly, quite terrifying in many ways. It turns out that this initial find (published in 2014) was a little crushed, side to side, and the upper and lower jaws (maxillae and mandibulae respectively) were misplaced. The subsequent find (published in 2016) of a differently arranged, and apparently better preserved, skull changed the way that paleontologists, and artists, interpreted the mouth, in particular, of Atopodentatus. This arrangement of teeth (and mouth) is definitely still odd and unique, but helped to better understand the likely feeding habits of this interesting marine reptile.
This fossil, in a short amount of time, shows how new discoveries can change not only how we view an animal, but also how we can, and often need to, change our perspectives and hypotheses due to new discoveries. It also helped to clear up some mysteries about Atopodentatus (e.g. How did it eat with the originally reconstructed mouth? What could it have possibly be eating?)
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