Killer fanged-tetrapod rediscovered!

Hannah Mayes

In a recent news article titled, “Massive fangs and a death crush: How a 370 million year old tetrapod hunted and killed” from the University of Lincoln; scientists put together the fossil of a newly rediscovered species of extinct tetrapod,  Parmastega aelidae. Russian Paleontologists were exhilarated to find a new clue into evolution’s past. Before this discovery little was known about tetrapods during this time, 370 million years ago. This species was described to have several unique features which included large fangs, eyes on the top of it’s head and cartilage shoulders, which likely means they never left the swamps (Massive). In the article the author peers into Paramastega aelidae’s past using biological clues as to how the animal lived.  “The unusual combination of anatomical features has cast new light on how one of most distant ancestors hunted and its life-style. Researchers believe it would have used its slender needle-like teeth and elastic jaw to snatch prey before crushing it to death with massive fangs protruding from its palate” (Massive). This tetrapod made an excellent hunter who spent most of its time in water feeding off large insects that lived by the waters edge. The scientists also observed it lived and hunted in groups. Dr. Marcello Ruta, a scientist from Lincoln said, “These fossils give us the earliest detailed glimpse of a tetrapod: an aquatic, surface-skimming predator, just over a metre in length, living in a lagoon on a tropical coastal plain.” (qtd. Massive). These findings are important because early tetrapods show us the step species made from fish to land mamalis in our past.

 In another article written about the discovery of the tetrapod; Two researchers from the Natural History museum in berlin, Nadia Fröbish and Florian Witzman, had this to say about the looks of Paramastega Aelidae, “Given their eye shape and position, these tetrapods would have been most comparable to modern mudskippers”(Newly). However, the writer of this article points out that mudskippers use their eyes for looking out for predators and not hunting like this species would. From the fossil evidence this devonian period tetrapod and the looks of a crocodile crossed with a mudskipper and was filled with a goldmine of information about evaloution’s past. 

The article I chose “Massive fangs and a death crush: How a 370 million year old tetrapod hunted and killed” by Lincoln University, reliable and informative, and I was able to back up the information with another article “Newly discovered strange ‘grinning’ crocodile-like creature lived 372 million years ago” by CNN. This topic  relates to what we have learned in class about the Fossil record and Comparative anatomy. As we know the Fossil record is physical proof of species that have existed in the past, which is how Paramestga aelida was discovered by paleontologists, and Comparative anatomy is the body structures of species around the world. In my article  Paramestga aelida was compared to crocodiles and mudskippers and its anatomy was the main focus of the news. And finally, I want to retouch on how important this when studying evolution. Paleontologists study the remains of ancient life on earth that helps us understand how and why life is now on earth.

Figure 1. The Carouselambra Kid, “Another Tetrapod!” , Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

Work Cited 

“Another Tetrapod!” by The Carouselambra Kid is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/6f023268-a104-4738-a530-b68aeb0e703c 

“Newly Discovered Strange ‘Grinning’ Crocodile-Like Creature Lived 372 Million Years Ago.” CNN Wire, 23 Oct. 2019, p. NA. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A603585792/AONE?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=AONE&xid=09a66142. Accessed 2 Nov. 2019.

University of Lincoln. “Massive Fangs and a Death Crush: How a 370 Million Year Old Tetrapod Hunted and Killed.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 October 2019 <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191024105825.htm>.