(ORDO NEWS) — In South Africa, paleontologists have found fossils of a large predatory fish that lived 350 million years ago, that is, long before the advent of dinosaurs.
The fish was given the name Hyneria udlezinye, which in translation from one of the African languages means (one of those who eat others).
Visually, the creature resembled a large alligator, but had a shorter muzzle. The length of the gyneria reached almost three meters.
Most likely, the fish lived in the rivers of Gondwana and fed on four-legged creatures, or tetrapods – the ancestral group from which man eventually arose.
Animals that lived side by side with Hyneria udlezinye had a hard time, because scientists note that the fish was a voracious and dangerous predator.
Archaeologists have discovered fossils of a giant fish that preyed on human ancestors.
Scientists have discovered a giant ancient fish that ate four-legged creatures. Scientists have discovered a giant ancient fish that ate four-legged creatures
What was the largest ancient fish
For the first time, traces of the existence of a previously unknown large fish, scientists discovered in 1995, when during the excavations they found fossilized scales.
The work was carried out in South Africa at a site called Waterloo Farm, located near the city of Mahanda.
Since then, scientists have had to do a lot of work to find all the main elements of the skeleton here and put them together.
As a result, scientists were able to establish that hyneria belongs to the species of giant tristichopterids, that is, a species that belongs to bony fish.
Its length was 2700 meters. She is the largest fish of the period, which is called the late Devonian. It lasted from 383 to 359 million years ago.
In the mouth, gyneria had many small teeth, as well as large fangs up to five centimeters long. But this is not the only sign that suggests that the fish was a predator. The fins of the fish were shifted towards the tail.
This is a characteristic feature for predators that are waiting for their prey, as a result of which they have to perform a sharp and fast dash. Scientists report this in their study, which was published in the journal PLOS One.
As we said above, the fish preyed on tetrapods. This is a superclass of jawed vertebrates from the group of bony vertebrates.
Their main characteristic feature is, as you might guess, the presence of four limbs. The latter usually served for movement on land.
Recall that ancient fish appeared like fingers on their limbs about 380 million years ago. On land, fish began to come out about 360-370 million years ago.
That is, during this period, tetrapods appeared. Although, some evidence indicates that they already existed 380-390 million years ago.
Ancient monster fish native to Australia?
Hyneria is the first giant tristichopterid discovered in the territory, which at the time of Gondwana was beyond the Arctic Circle.
This suggests that predatory fish tristichopterids lived not only in the tropics, as was originally thought. In fact, they have spread throughout the entire supercontinent.
This fact is confirmed by the fossils of another fish, called H. lindae, which also belongs to the Tristichopterid species.
It was found during excavations in Pennsylvania. During the Late Devonian period, this territory belonged to the supercontinent Euramerica.
However, most Tristichopterid fossils have been found in Australia.
Since she was in the tropics at that time, scientists suggest that the giant tristichopterids are still from Australia.
However, it should be borne in mind that other regions of Gondwana, such as Africa and South America, are still poorly understood.
What happened to the ancient predatory fish?
Tristichopterids, including Hyneria, disappeared during another mass extinction, which occurred at the end of the Devonian, about 359 million years ago.
Currently, these fish do not even have descendants. However, scientists believe that our family line had a common ancestor earlier in the Devonian period with the Tristichopterids.
In other words, the Late Devonian Tristichopterids seem to be our second cousins.
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