If you think that the first wild animals to inhabit the Earth were the dinosaurs, you are probably wrong. Well before they became extinct, the “Permian Monsters” already dominated life on our planet.
These were the first giants on Earth
Image: JerzyGorecki/Pixabay/Reproduction
Known as the first carnivorous and herbivorous giants to exist on Earth, the “Permian Monsters” lived approximately 299 to 251 million years ago.
They are believed to have become extinct due to extreme climate change, in which around 90% of all life on Earth died. Those who survived participated in the evolutionary process until the arrival of the dinosaurs.
The animals received their name due to the time in which they existed, known as the Permian Period, the last of the Paleozoic era.
There are two main groups of these monsters. Check out a little more about them and what is known about their physiology:
Synapsid Group
The first group is the synapsids, whose main characteristic is the fact that they were a transitional species between reptiles and mammals.
O Dimetrodon It is one of the best known, having a large trunk and a huge sail on its back. Those animals they were some of the first to present mammalian characteristics among reptiles.
Another species of synapsid of great importance was the Cotylorhynchus, which had an extensive body, similar to that of a crocodile, but with a rounded head. This was a significant ancestor of vertebrate animals.
Sauropsid Group
In the case of the animals in this group, they represented the intersection between reptiles and birds. O Scutosaurus It was approximately 3 meters long and was exclusively herbivorous. Its large size and barrel-shaped body were comparable to that of a cow.
Another important Permian representative of this group was the Edaphosaurus, which had a small head when compared to its almost 4 meter body. However, its mouth had large teeth, capable of crushing most objects. plants.
