Paleontologists have discovered a variety of animals, including saber-toothed predators, burrowing foragers, and large salamander-like creatures that flourished in southern Pangaea about 252 million years ago, just prior to the mass extinction of the Permian period.
Artistic rendering of an evening about 252 million years ago during the Late Permian Epoch in the Luangwa Basin, Zambia. This scene features several sabertooth Golgonopsians and Dishnodons in the beak. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.
“The extinction at the end of the Permian was catastrophic for life on Earth,” stated Professor Christian Saidal of the University of Washington.
“Yet, we do not have a complete understanding of which species managed to survive.
“The fossils we gather in Tanzania and Zambia provide a broader perspective on this remarkable period in our planet’s history.”
All new fossils were uncovered in three basins in southern Africa: the Roof Basin in southern Tanzania, the Luangwa Basin in eastern Zambia, and the Zambezi Central Basin in southern Zambia.
The majority were found by team members during several month-long excavation trips to the region over the past 17 years.
Others were analyzed from specimens excavated decades ago, preserved in museum collections.
“These regions in Zambia and Tanzania are home to incredibly well-preserved fossils from the Permian era,” Professor Saidal remarked.
“They provide us with an unparalleled glimpse into terrestrial life leading up to the mass extinction.”
The Permian period marks the conclusion of what paleontologists term the Paleozoic era.
During this time, animal life, which first emerged in our oceans, began to colonize land and developed complex terrestrial ecosystems.
The Permian epoch saw a diverse range of amphibians and reptile-like creatures inhabit environments ranging from early forests to arid valleys.
The mass extinction at the End-Permian wiped out many of these ecosystems, paving the way for the Mesozoic era, which witnessed the evolution of dinosaurs, the first birds, flowering plants, and mammals.
For decades, scientists relied on the Kalu Basin in South Africa for their best understanding of the Permian, the corresponding extinction, and the onset of the Mesozoic Era, which boasts nearly complete fossil records from before and after that mass extinction.
However, since the 1930s, paleontologists have noted that the fossil records in the Tanzanian and Zambian basins are comparably pristine.
This excavation represents the most extensive analysis of the local fossil record from the period surrounding the Permian mass extinction to date.
“The quantity of specimens found in Zambia and Tanzania is extraordinarily high, and their condition is so exquisite that paleontologists are able to draw species-level comparisons with those in South Africa,” Professor Sidor explained.
“We recognize that there is no better location on the planet to make such precise conclusions and comparisons to glean sufficient detail about this era.”
In the Series of 14 Articles published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers have detailed numerous new species of dicynodonts.
These small, burrowing, reptile-like herbivores first emerged during the Central Permian.
By the time of the mass extinction, the Dishnodons had beak-like snouts featuring two small tusks; many of them dug holes and became the dominant plant-eating animals on land.
The findings also uncover several large saber-toothed predators known as Golgonopsians, along with new species of amphibians, such as large salamanders.
“We can analyze two distinct geographical regions of Pangaea and observe the happenings before and after the Permian extinction,” Professor Saidal concluded.
“This allows us to explore critical questions regarding which species survived and which did not.”
Source: www.sci.news
