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This image provided by the Department of Cultural Affairs of New Mexico shows the paleontology curator Spencer Lucas talking about Gordodon, a reptile specializing in plant consumption, during an interview in front of the Museum of Natural History and of New Mexico Science in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fossil bones were discovered near Alamogordo by Ethan Schuth during a geology study visit to the University of Oklahoma in 2013. Bones, which are part of of a skeleton preserved exquisitely but incompletely, are exhibited at the museum. (Department of Cultural Affairs of New Mexico via AP) (Associated Press)
ALBUQUERQUE, MN – The oldest known example of herbivorous reptile has been discovered in the fossil record of southern New Mexico, the Natural History Museum of New Mexico announced.
The museum made the announcement this week, saying that the unique structure of the skull, jaws and teeth of the reptile attached to the sail indicated that it was an herbivore and that such plant consumption was up to now unknown in reptiles over 200 million people. years.
The fossil bones were discovered near Alamogordo by Ethan Schuth during a geology study visit to the University of Oklahoma in 2013. The bones were part of the study. 39, a skeleton preserved exquisitely but incompletely.
Field teams spent about a year collecting bones at the site and spending more time removing the hard sandstone surrounding the fossils so that research could ensue.
Paleontology curator Spencer Lucas and his museum team determined that the bones were about 300 million years old, which means that the reptile lived at the beginning of the Permian period, more than 50 millions of years before the origin of the dinosaurs.
Lucas and his research associate, Matt Celeskey, identified the skeleton as belonging to a new genus and a new species that they named Gordodon kraineri. Gordodon is derived from the Spanish word gordo, or fat, and from the Greek word odon, or tooth, the species having large pointed teeth at the end of its jaws.
The name of the kraineri species pays tribute to Karl Krainer, an Austrian geologist who contributed to the knowledge of the Permian period in New Mexico.
"Gordodon rewrites the books by pushing back our understanding of the evolution of this specialized herbivore about 100 million years ago," Lucas said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Gordodon was about 1.5 meters long and weighed about 34 kilograms. It was thought that he had been a selective nutrient for nutrient-rich plants because of the advanced structure of his skull, his jaws and his teeth.
Museum experts say that other herbivorous reptiles were not selective and did not nibble any of the plants they encountered. They say that Gordodon possessed some of the same specializations as modern animals such as goats and deer.
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