A terrifying beast roamed Earth long before dinosaurs, a newly found skull proves

Sao Gabriel, Brazil

Dinosaurs are believed to be the most terrifying prehistoric predators to have ever existed on Earth. However, a new discovery of a skull has brought to light another fearsome beast, which is likely to have dominated Earth 40 million years before the first 'terrible lizards' existed.

The scientists found the 265-million-year-old fossil in Brazil, which revealed to the world the largest meat eater of its time, which was unknown till now and is believed to have prowled the jungles in search of unlucky critters to chomp on.

"This animal was a gnarly-looking beast, and it must have evoked sheer dread in anything that crossed its path," stated Harvard University palaeontologist Stephanie Pierce.

Pampaphoneus biccai's almost-complete fossilised skull was discovered by scientists along with skeletal bones near Sao Gabriel in Southern Brazil. The skull measured almost 36 cm (14.2 inches).

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Pampaphoneus is said to belong to the early therapsid clade Dinocephalia, a group of frightening and huge terrestrial animals which thrived before T. rex and pals. All Dinocephalians were not carnivores, however, Pampaphoneus was.

"The animal had large, sharp canine teeth adapted for capturing prey," stated Felipe Pinheiro, a palaeontologist from the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA) in Brazil.

"Its dentition and cranial architecture suggest that its bite was strong enough to chew bones, much like modern-day hyenas,” he added.

Pampaphoneus survived just before wipeout of 86 per cent of animal species

Pampaphoneus survived at the end of the Permian, just before 86 per cent of all animal species were wiped from the Earth in the largest-ever mass extinction event.

"The fossil was found in middle Permian rocks, in an area where bones are not so common, but always hold pleasant surprises," stated first author Mateus A. Costa Santos, a palaeontologist at UNIPAMPA.

Previously, fossils of other dinocephalians were found in Russia and South Africa, however, Pampaphoneus biccai is Brazil's only known species, and the team said that this well-preserved fossil "reveals new characters previously unknown for the species," since the scientists found a smaller skull in 2008.

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"Finding a new Pampaphoneus skull after so long was extremely important for increasing our knowledge about the animal, which was previously difficult to differentiate from its Russian relatives,” said Santos.

"Pampaphoneus played the same ecological role as modern big cats. It was the largest terrestrial predator we know of from the Permian in South America,” Pinheiro said.

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