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Gondwana’s ultimate hunter – New giant fossil - EurekAlert
After three years of meticulous study, an international team of researchers has announced the discovery of a fossilised giant basal tetrapod in Namibia's arid heartland in Nature. A basal tetrapod is an early four-legged vertebrate with fingers and toes, which lived during the transition from water to land. These ancient carnivores are among the earliest ancestors of all modern animals. This nearly complete 3-meter-long skeleton of an adult, unearthed in the Ugab River valley in Damaraland, is the largest ever discovered. This discovery is significant because it challenges previous assumptions that these early four-legged vertebrates, which lived during the transition from water to land around 280 million years ago, were only found in the northern hemisphere. The new species, named Gaiasia jennyae, provides crucial insights into the early evolution of land-dwelling animals and shows how important southern continents are in future research on this topic.
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