Cretoxyrhina is an extinct genus of the order Lamniformes of mackerel
sharks. Living in subtropical and temperate oceans worldwide about 107
to 73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous, Cretoxyrhina was
one of the largest sharks of its time, 8 meters (26 ft) in length, and
also among the fastest, with estimated burst speeds of up to 70 km/h
(43 mph). It was an apex predator, preying on sharks and other large
fish, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, and occasionally dinosaurs.
Thanks to numerous discoveries of exceptionally well-preserved skeletons
during the 19th and 20th centuries, the type species, C. mantelli, is
one of the best-understood extinct sharks. These fossils show that it
may have had a lifespan of up to forty years and a general build similar
to the modern great white shark, but with facial and optical features
similar to those of thresher sharks and crocodile sharks. Its ability to
function in cold water was probably enhanced by regional endothermy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretoxyrhina>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1791:
Northwest Indian War: In the most severe defeat ever suffered
by U.S. forces at the hands of Native Americans, the Western Confederacy
won a major victory at the Battle of the Wabash near present-day Fort
Recovery in Ohio.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair%27s_defeat>
1912:
The keel of USS Nevada was laid down, beginning construction
on the first "super-dreadnought" of the United States Navy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nevada_%28BB-36%29>
1964:
Ayatollah Khomeini was arrested by SAVAK and secretly exiled to
Turkey.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini%27s_life_in_exile>
1995:
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by
ultranationalist Yigal Amir while at a peace rally at Kings of Israel
Square in Tel Aviv.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
othering:
(philosophy, politics) gerund of other: the process of perceiving or
portraying someone or something as essentially alien or different.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/othering>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
--Will Rogers
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Rogers>
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