Discover the oldest predatory fossil species in South America

On January 18, Brazilian archaeologists said they discovered fossils of carnivores that lived more than 260 million years ago and are the oldest fossils of a predator ever found in South America.

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Juan Carlos Cisneros, of the Federal University of Brazil, studied in the northeastern state of Piaui, saying: 'This predator lives before 40 million years of dinosaurs and is a predecessor to mammals.'

This fossil, a complete 35 cm long skull, was found in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, analyzed by South African and Turkish experts and the results were published in the special issue of The Journal Research of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States.

Fossils are exhibited at the Brazilian Federal University, studying the Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre.'We are talking about the oldest fossil ever found in South Africa of a species that lived in the Paleolithic period, before the separation of the continents, with the characteristics of the species found only in South Africa and Russia. " , Cisneros said.

The remaining fossils are believed to be of an ancient species of dinocephalia , distant relatives of mammals.

Also according to Mr. Cisneros, this finding helps scientists to recreate the entire predator that is said to have a length of 3m and weigh 300kg with four fangs shaped like a hook (two above and two below). ) to catch and bite prey, with two saw-shaped teeth.

This species may have migrated from South Africa to South America when the continents are not separated. In Russia, similar fossils have been found.

Lizard dinocephalia extinct about 250 million years ago along with 90% of other species on Earth because of volcanic eruptions.