If you’ve ever searched the sand at a beach, you know the thrill of discovering something unusual — perhaps a twisted shell, a piece of driftwood or if you’re lucky, something puzzling enough to make you stop and stare. That’s just what happened to a beachcomber in Pensacola, Fla.
While walking along the shore, they stumbled upon something strange and toothy that looked fossilized. Intrigued, they spent the next two decades puzzling over what it had been. Marine biologists? Stumped. Museum experts? Also stumped. The mystery building baffled everyone who saw it.
What They Found: Freshwater Drum ‘Throat Teeth’
They finally cleared up the mystery. That odd little thing wasn’t the fossil of some ancient relic after all — it was the pharyngeal teeth of a freshwater drum fish (Aplodinotus grunniens), also known as a drum.
Unlike most fish, which have rows of sharp teeth inside their mouths, freshwater drum have a …
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