Many believe that the dinosaurs They were the most dangerous and feared animals that ever lived on Earth. However, it seems that they may be close to losing that position.
It turns out that researchers discovered an animal that was older and much more dangerous than them, the Pampaphoneus biccai. And the scariest thing of all, for us, is that this species lived in Brazil!
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Details about the Pampaphoneus biccai
The animal’s fossil was found in the city of São Gabriel, which is located in Rio Grande do Sul. According to researchers, this animal would have lived 265 million years ago, that is, 40 million years before the dinosaurs.
It is believed that the Pampaphoneus It was the largest and most dangerous predator of its time and it became extinct in a period when 86% of species around the world disappeared.
All discoveries about the new species were led by Mateus Costa. He is a postgraduate student at the Paleontology Laboratory at the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa). The study was published in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
According to research, these animals would be around 3 meters long and weigh an astonishing 400 kilograms. They would occupy a predatory position in the food chain, quite similar to that of cats today.
However, the species is infinitely larger and would be capable of breaking even bones with its sharp canines.
Species is compared to a beast
For researchers, the animal was simply a beast and probably caused a lot of terror to any creature that was in front of it. Study co-author Stephanie E. Pierce explained more details in a statement:
“Its discovery is fundamental to providing an idea of the community structure of terrestrial ecosystems just before the greatest mass extinction of all time. A spectacular discovery that demonstrates the global importance of Brazil’s fossil record.”
O Pampaphoneus biccai It belongs to a group known as dinocephalus. This clade (i.e., group of organisms originating from a single exclusive common ancestor) is made up only of large animals. Most of the fossils in this group were found in both South Africa and Russia.
Discovery is rare in Brazil
The researchers were surprised that the fossil be well preserved. Furthermore, finding fragments of this animal is quite rare here, as explained by the person responsible for the research.
The bones found in Rio Grande do Sul make up the second example of the species found in all of South America, and is also the largest of the two.
“The fossil was found in mid-Permian rocks, in an area where bones are not so common, but always hold pleasant surprises. Finding a new Pampaphoneus skull after so long was extremely important in increasing our knowledge of the animal, which was previously difficult to differentiate from its Russian relatives.”
Look at the size of the skull of this animal. It’s scary!
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