Video: Meet Pampaphoneus, a predator older than dinosaurs found in RS | Rio Grande do Sul

With up to 3 meters It weighs approx. 400 kgor Pampafonus pikai It lived more than 265 million years ago, and is considered the oldest land predator in South America. It lived before dinosaurs and belongs to the group of dinosaurs, which are large land animals that lived on Earth in the primitive era. See the video above.

The new fossil of the older dinosaur “cousin” was presented by researchers from Rio Grande do Sul and Piauí in an article in the international scientific journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The study is a partnership between the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI) and Harvard University.

Complete skull and parts of the skeleton Pampafonos It was found in 2019, in the town of Katocaba, in the rural area of ​​the municipality of São Gabriel, on the border of Republika Srpska.

“Finding, after a long time, a new skull of Bambaphonus was extremely important for increasing our knowledge of the animal, which until then had been difficult to distinguish from its Russian cousins,” says the study’s lead author, Mateus Costa Santos, from Unibamba.

After withdrawal, it took another three years for the full study. A fossil of this species had already been found in the area more than 20 years ago, but with this well-preserved discovery new details have been learned about what the predator looked like.

Its fangs were large and sharp, adapted for capturing prey. The discovery of the skull, which is about 40 cm long, helps reveal new information about this species.

Based on the shape of the skull, the researchers concluded that it bites Pampafonos It was strong enough to chew the bones of small and medium-sized animals.

“Pampaphoneus played the same ecological role that big cats play today,” explains paleontologist and professor at Unipampa, Felipe Pinheiro, who coordinated the research.

“Its teeth and skull structure suggest that its bite was powerful enough to chew bone, much as modern-day hyenas do.”

See the report on Pampaphoneus below

The potential prey has already been identified at the same location where the potential prey was found Pampafonos It was found, like a small dicynodont Rastodon And giant amphibians Konjokovia.

“The new pampafonus and all other fauna of the region demonstrate the potential of the pampa gaucho for great fossil discoveries. It is important that these fossils remain deposited in institutions close to the discovery site, as is the case at Unibamba.”

“Fossils, in addition to attracting interest in science, play an important role in local identity, tourism and environmental conservation,” the paleontologist concludes.