Previously considered heavy, slow, and lazy, 260 million-year-old predator Anteosaurus was a fierce hunter-killer – ScienceDaily

However, while it was previously believed that this beast of creature – which reached about the size of an adult hippo or rhino and had a thick crocodilian tail – was too heavy and slow to be a effective hunter, a new study has shown that the Anteosaurus could have effectively outrun, stalked and killed its prey.

Despite its name and fierce appearance, the Anteosaurus is not a dinosaur but rather belongs to dinocephals – mammal-like reptiles that predate dinosaurs. Much like dinosaurs, dinosaurs roamed and ruled the Earth in the past, but they were born, thrived, and died approximately 30 million years before the first dinosaur even existed.

The fossilized bones of Dinocephalans are found in many places around the world. They are distinguished by their large size and heavy weight. Dinocephalian bones are thick and dense, and Anteosaurus is no exception. The skull of the Anteosaurus was adorned with large bumps (bumps and bumps) above the eyes and a long crest at the top of the muzzle which, in addition to its enlarged canines, made its skull resemble that of a creature. fierce. However, due to the heavy architecture of its skeleton, it was previously assumed that it was a rather slow and slow animal, capable at best of trapping or ambushing its prey.

“Some scientists have even suggested that the Anteosaurus was so heavy that it could only have lived in water,” explains Dr Julien Benoit of the Institute for Evolutionary Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand (University of Wits).

By carefully reconstructing the Anteosaurus skull digitally using X-ray imaging and 3D reconstructions, a team of researchers studied the internal structures of the skull and found that the specific characteristics of its brain and its Balance bodies were developed in such a way that it was anything but slow.

“Agile predators such as cheetahs or the infamous Velociraptor have always had very specialized nervous systems and refined sensory organs that allow them to effectively stalk and stalk their prey,” explains Benoit. “We wanted to know if the Anteosaurus had similar adaptations.”

The team found that the Anteosaurus’ balancing organ (its inner ear) was relatively larger than that of its closest relatives and other contemporary predators. This indicates that the Anteosaurus was able to move much faster than its prey and competitors. They also found that the part of the brain responsible for coordinating eye movements with the head was unusually large, which would have been a crucial trait in ensuring the animal’s tracking abilities.

“By creating the most complete reconstruction of an Anteosaurus skull to date, we found that overall, the Anteosaurus nervous system was optimized and specialized to hunt quickly and strike quickly, unlike what the ‘we used to believe,’ says Dr Ashley Kruger of Natural History. Museum in Stockholm, Sweden and previously at Wits University.

“Even though Anteosaurus lived 200 million years before the famous Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur, Anteosaurus was certainly not a ‘primitive’ creature, and was nothing less than a powerful prehistoric killing machine,” says Benoit.

Source of the story:

Material provided by University of the Witwatersrand. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.