Scientists discover sabre-toothed tortoise (awesome!)

With its fearsome canines and a mouth filled with teeth, experts could have been forgiven for thinking they'd discovered another great dinosaur predator.

But this prehistoric tortoise is no more predatory than its latter-day relative.

Rather than being a snarling meat-eater this sabre-toothed beast - that lived 260million years ago - feasted on leaves and stems.

The fossilised remains of the creature, known as Tiarajudens eccentricu and which was the size of a large dog, have been discovered in Brazil.

While apparently unnecessary due to it's vegetarian tendencies, the dagger teeth will have been very much needed to fight off predators and enemies.

Speaking to LiveScience, vertebrate paleontologist Juan Carlos Cisneros at the Federal University of Piauí in Teresina, Brazil said: 'If you asked me how surprised I was about finding this fossil, I can tell you that finding a fossil so bizarre as Tiarajudens eccentricus, a fossil that looks like if it has been made from parts of different animals, is like finding a unicorn.

'You see it, but you don't believe it.' (read more)