Ancient salamanders are as large as cars

Fossil studies show that salamanders once lived 230 million years ago, about the size of a small car.

Giant ancient salamanders

Simulation of salamanders Metoposaurus algarvensis.(Photo: PA)

The species Metoposaurus algarvensis used to live in Portugal's water environment about 230 million years ago, during the Triassic period.

"The new amphibian looks like something in the movie about ugly monsters. It's as long as a small car and has hundreds of sharp teeth on its head. The head is large, flat and shaped like a chair. toilet when teeth closed " , Huffington Post yesterday quoted Steve Brusatte, expert at the University of Edinburgh, England, said.

The team found petrified fossils in a shallow lake in Portugal. Similar reptiles were identified during the same period around the world, but this is the first case in the Iberian Peninsula.

Most of the giant salamanders Metoposaurus disappeared in the great extinction 201 million years ago , when supercontinent Pangea separated. This event caused many vertebrate species such as large reptiles to disappear and initiate the era of dinosaur domination.