More than 200 million years ago, a mammal that weighed more than a modern ambulance and was about 4.5 meters long and 2.6 meters high once walked the Earth alongside dinosaurs. We are talking about Lisowicia bojani , a gigantic creature larger than an elephant that walked like today’s hippos or rhinos and, despite its incredible size, survived thanks to plants during the Triassic Period.
Previously, paleontologists thought that these massive creatures “retreated into the shadows as dinosaurs rose and grew to enormous sizes,” says Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, leader of the work reported in the journal Science.
These animals were believed to move on the ground in places like Africa, Asia, and North and South America. However, a new discovery of the most complete fossilized specimen discovered in Europe overturns this “established picture” of life at that time in history.
“We think this is one of the most unexpected Triassic fossil discoveries in Europe. Who would have ever thought that there was a fossil record of such giant cousins of elephant-sized mammals in this part of the world,” said Niedzwiedzki.
“Until now, gigantisms in the Triassic appeared to be the complete domain of dinosaurs, and the previously known Triassic dicynodonts were substantially smaller,” the experts clarify. ” Lisowicia’s discovery suggests that general ecological factors may have been the key driving process rather than dinosaur-specific attributes.”
Researchers believe that Lisowicia Bojani s and became a specialized herbivore that was adapted to the needs of your environment. To begin with, various features on their limbs (such as a “massive scapula”) suggest that they were postural animals, moving upright on all fours to reach for food.
Almost the size of an elephant and an estimated weight of 9,000 kilograms, experts say e ste increase in body size could also have been driven by the need to protect against large predators or as a way to maximize the retention of food and energy gain.
“Basically, Lisowicia’s anatomy doesn’t differ much from the other dicynodonts, but it does show some unique anatomical features (such as cervical vertebrae, sternum) unknown in other dicynodonts . Lisowicia is the youngest (geologically) and largest member of the line dicynodonts, “continues Niedzwiedzki, adding that these creatures are the mammalian relatives of the dicynodont family, a group of synapsids that includes mammals and their ancestors.
But this evolution did not happen overnight. The team believe it took Lisowicia around 20 million years to reach her gargantuan figure, gradually increasing in size similar to that of dinosaurs and then mammalian lineages.
As the authors point out, the research suggests that the history of these giant animals is probably “poorly documented” compared to what was previously believed and that excavation in Europe calls into question certain beliefs about the animal and its geographic range, thus It opens up the potential for further research and a greater understanding of these gigantic animals and the world in which they lived.
Reference: T. Sulej el al., “An elephant-sized Late Triassic synapsid with erect limbs,” Science (2018). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/… 1126 / science.aal4853
Images credit: Tomasz Sulej and Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki / Karolina Suchan-Okulska
