The fossil whorls were a mystery. In 1899, geologist Alexander Karpinsky described an odd spiral of teeth, the first known fossil of its kind, uncovered from the ancient rocks of Krasnoufimsk, Russia.

Of all the vexing fossil mysteries that have confounded paleontologists, few have been as persistent as that of Helicoprion – the name given to petrified whorls of elongate teeth that look like 270 ...

A study in the Journal of Morphology shows how the bizarre prehistoric ratfish called a Helicoprion ate with its unique set of choppers. A Helicoprion was a prehistoric ratfish that featured perhaps ...

Reconstructing the anatomy of prehistoric sharks isn't easy. With few exceptions - an exquisitely-preserved body fossil here, some calcified bits of skeleton there - teeth make up the majority of the ...

The world’s only animal, past or present, with a complete 360-degree spiral of teeth was Helicoprion, which sliced into prey like a buzzsaw. This sharklike fish, which lived 270 million years ago, is ...

A 25ft monster 'shark' with chainsaw teeth that roamed the prehistoric seas 270 million years ago has been revealed by scientists. The bizarre fish Helicoprion, an early ancestor of sharks, had a ...

After watching the movie Jaws, I had a deep sense of dread about going into the water—even if the water was in a swimming pool. A similar hydrophobia came over me while reading the riveting new book ...