Experts from the University of Birmingham and the Universidade Federal do Pampa (Unipampa) have discovered a new fossilized reptile species that would have lived approximately 250 million years ago, shortly after a mass extinction event that wiped out 90 percent of all life on Earth.
The creature, which was identified using a nearly-complete and well-preserved skull found in a Triassic rock exposure near São Francisco de Assis in southern Brazil last year, has been named Teyujagua paradoxa, Dr. Felipe Pinheiro, a paleobiologist at Unipama noted in a study published in Friday’s edition of the journal Scientific Reports.
Photographs and interpretative drawings of the skull. (Credit: Dr. Felipe Pinheiro et al.)
According to the authors, Teyujagua means “fierce lizard” in the language of the Guarani, and the name refers to a mythological creature, the Teyú Yaguá, which has the body of a lizard and the head of a dog. The real-life Teyujagua is described as a cross between primitive reptiles from the era and more evolved creatures known as archosauriformes, a group made up of the now-extinct dinosaurs and pterosaurs (flying reptiles), as well as modern birds and crocodiles.
What makes the discovery of this new creature so important is that it lived shortly after the great Permo-Triassic mass extinction that took place 252 million years ago and was likely caused by a series of intense volcanic eruptions. Teyujagua’s discovery sheds new light onto how land-based ecosystems recovered from and developed in the aftermath of that event, the authors said.
Creature could help uncover the origins of the dinosaurs
Described as a small, four-legged creature that only grew to about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length, the Teyujagua and its closest relatives would go on to become the dominant land animals of the era and would eventually go on to evolve into dinosaurs. It had recurved, sharply pointed teeth with fine serrations, indicating that the creature was a meat-eater.
Based on the placement of its nostrils on the upper part of its snout, the reptile was likely at least semi-aquatic, similar to modern-day crocodiles. Dr. Pinheiro and his collleagues believe that the species likely lived along the edges of rivers or lakes, hunting now-extinct, small-bodied, lizard-like reptiles known as procolophonids and amphibians. Excavations at the site are ongoing, and the researchers believe that more discoveries about the Teyujagua will follow.
Details of the reptile’s skull. (Credit: Dr. Felipe Pinheiro et al.)
In a statement, Dr. Pinheiro called the discovery of the new species “really exciting,” adding that from the first moment they saw the skull, “we knew we had something extraordinary in our hands. Back in the lab, after slowly exposing the bones, the fossil exceeded our expectations. It had a combination of features never seen before, indicating the unique position of Teyujagua in the evolutionary tree of an important group of vertebrates.”
“Teyujagua is a really important discovery because it helps us understand the origins of a group of vertebrates called archosauriforms,” added Dr. Richard Butler from the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. The new species “fills an evolutionary gap between archosauriforms and more primitive reptiles and helps us understand how the archosauriform skull first evolved,” he concluded.
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Image credit: Voltaire Neto
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