“Reconstructing the Face of a 330 Million Year Old Crocodile-Like ‘Tadpole’ Creature”

Tuesday, May 9 2023 – 13:09 WIB

LIVE Techno – By piecing together pieces of an ancient skull, scientists have reconstructed the ghostly face of a 330 million year old crocodile-like ‘tadpole’ creature.

The discovery let scientists know what he looked like and how he lived. Scientists have known about the extinct species, Crassigyrinus scoticus, for a decade.

However, because all the ancient carnivore fossils found were badly destroyed it is difficult to find out more about their true identity.

Now, progress in scanning computed tomography (CT) and 3D visualization have allowed researchers to digitally reassemble fragments for the first time, revealing more details about the ancient animal.

Previous research has shown that Crassigyrinus scoticus was a tetrapod – a quadrupedal animal related to the first creatures to move from water to land.

Tetrapods began appearing on Earth about 400 million years ago, when the earliest tetrapods began to evolve from lobe-finned fish, according to the Live Science website, Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

However, unlike its relatives, previous studies have found Crassigyrinus scoticus was an aquatic animal. This is because their ancestors returned from land to water, or because they never made landfall.