Scientists have unveiled fossils of Gaiasia jennyae, a giant, fanged, salamander-like predator that dominated waters 40 million years before dinosaurs. Larger than a person, it likely used its wide, flat head and front teeth to capture prey. Fossil remnants, including a partial skull and backbone, were analyzed, revealing a skull about 2 feet long. The findings, published in Nature, help trace the origins of tetrapods. Unlike most early tetrapod fossils from prehistoric coal swamps, these 280-million-year-old remnants were found in Namibia, once covered in glaciers.
- Sebastian Hawthorne
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