Dinosaurs were renowned as the most fearsome predators of prehistoric times, but a newly discovered skull sheds light on the terrifying beasts that dominated Earth 40 million years before the first “terrible lizards” arrived on Earth.
265 million year old fossils unearthed in Brazil reveal the largest carnivore of its time, which roamed the jungle in search of pesky creatures to gnaw on.
“This animal is a strange-looking beast, and must strike great fear in anything that crosses its path.” He said Harvard paleontologist Stephanie Pierce.
A nearly complete fossil skull Pampafonus pikai About 36 cm (14.2 in) long it was found with skeletal bones nearby Sao Gabriel In southern Brazil.
Pampaphones Fits into the early therapsid branch The head growsa large group of large and generally fearsome land animals that once flourished T-Rex And colleagues. But not all dinosaurs were carnivores Pampaphones Of course.
“The animal had large, sharp fangs adapted for catching prey.” He said Felipe Pinheiro, paleontologist from the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA) in Brazil.
“Its teeth and skull structure suggest that its bite was strong enough to chew through bone, like modern-day hyenas.”
Very interesting (although I may be biased) image of the preparation of the new Pampaphonus skull. Trigger warning for a very beautiful fossil.@the_anilson @voltart @paleocisneros @MCZHarvard pic.twitter.com/BulUlJVe1Z
– Felipe Pinheiro (@FeliPinheir) 12 September 2023
Pampaphones He lived in the end Permianbefore the mass extinction event – the largest ever – which wiped out 86 percent of all animal species on Earth.
“The fossil was discovered in Middle Permian rocks, in an area where bones are rare, but always holds a pleasant surprise.” He said First author Matthews A. Costa Santos, paleontologist at UNIPAMPA.
Other decapod fossils have previously been found in Russia and South Africa, but… Pampafonus pikai This is the only species known to come from Brazil, and the team says it is a well-preserved fossil.”Revealing new, previously unknown characters of this species“, since a smaller skull was discovered in 2008.
“Looking for something new Pampaphones “The skull over time has become very important for increasing our knowledge of the animal.” He said Santos, “previously difficult to distinguish from its Russian relatives.”
Technical reconstruction Pampafonus pikai. (Marcio Castro)
Pampaphones This is definitely not an easy task. These animals were giants with a height of 3 meters (10 feet) and a maximum weight estimated at 400 kilograms (882 pounds).
In the last decade, the same region has provided evidence of this PampaphonesPotential victims enter Small reptile Rastodon And it Massive amphibians Konjoks. Big size Pampaphones It made the two creatures look like snacks.
“Pampaphones “It played the same ecological role as modern big cats,” Pinheiro said He said. “It was the largest land predator we know of from the Permian period in South America.”
It’s not just his size that makes him so Pampaphones stand out. Their skulls were solid-bodied, like those of most decapitators, giving the branch its appropriate name, which translates to “terrible head” in Greek.
Skull of a new Pampaphoneus biccai specimen. (Felipe Pinheiro)
New information revealed through analysis of this skull leads researchers to believe that the currently unidentified jawbone is from a larger, worse version. Pampafonus pikai. The team says more fossils are needed to confirm the hypothesis, but this could mean that the monstrous head they just studied wasn’t even from an adult.
“The discovery is key to providing a glimpse into the societal structure of terrestrial ecosystems before the largest mass extinction ever occurred,” Pearce said. He said. “A stunning discovery that shows the global importance of Brazil’s fossil record.”
This research was published in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
2023-09-18 03:54:39
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