A salamander-like animal thought to have lived 40 million years before dinosaurs has been discovered.
According to the study published in the journal Nature, scientists analyzed some fossils, including skull and spine bones, discovered about 10 years ago and taken from four different samples.
Researchers determined that the head of this approximately 280 million-year-old creature, called “Gaiasia jennyae” and found in Namibia, was approximately 60 centimeters.
Scientists estimate that this animal lived at the bottom of swamps and lakes, and determined that this salamander-like creature is approximately 40 million years older than the first dinosaur species.
“It’s surprising that Gaiasia is so old,” said Jason Pardo, one of the authors of the study.
Pardo said the animal was “probably related to organisms that went extinct 40 million years ago.”
