Dinosaurs have a reputation for being the most terrifying prehistoric predators, but a newly discovered skull sheds light on a fearsome beast that dominated 40 million years before the first 'terrible lizards' walked the Earth.
The 265-million-year-old fossil found in Brazil reveals the largest meat eater of its time, one that prowled the jungles searching for unlucky critters to chomp on.
"This animal was a gnarly-looking beast, and it must have evoked sheer dread in anything that crossed its path," says Harvard University paleontologist Stephanie Pierce.
An almost-complete fossilized skull of Pampaphoneus biccai measuring almost 36 cm (14.2 inches) was discovered along with skeletal bones near São Gabriel in Southern Brazil.
The 265-million-year-old fossil found in Brazil reveals the largest meat eater of its time, one that prowled the jungles searching for unlucky critters to chomp on.
"This animal was a gnarly-looking beast, and it must have evoked sheer dread in anything that crossed its path," says Harvard University paleontologist Stephanie Pierce.
An almost-complete fossilized skull of Pampaphoneus biccai measuring almost 36 cm (14.2 inches) was discovered along with skeletal bones near São Gabriel in Southern Brazil.
