Scientists discovered a 250 million year old pre-reptile that was able to walk on four legs in the subcontinent Pangea. The Knobby-faced animal as per the scientists was unlike any other residing on the supercontinent Pangea. As per the scientists, this newly found species looks and walks like a cow, but has a knobby face made out of the bones on the skull.
This newly discovered prehistoric species has been named as Bunostegos akokanensis and eats plants with its massive body residing on the four legs. As imagined, this animal had thick and sturdy legs to give the entire body a little rise from the ground. As per the scientists, animals with an upright posture on the four and two legs weren’t that common to find in the pre-historic period, and this newly discovered species is one of them.
Apparently, this 260 million-year-old fossil of pre-reptile is going to reveal even more facts for the evolution posture among mammals and other prehistoric creatures. Scientists said that the discovery of the Bunstegos challenged everything they knew about the evolution of four-legged species.
As per the details, researchers studied several bones of the species, including the shoulder and elbow bones. The study of the anatomy of the humerus, a forelimb bone, suggested that the animal shouldn’t have crawled on the ground. The anatomy of the elbow joint was short at the moment just like the cats, dogs, humans and all other species walking on the four and two legs. The anatomy of the elbow joint made it even firm that the Bunostegos walked on the four legs.
Morgan Turner, a Ph.D. student at the Brown University, said that being able to walk and probably run on four legs helped the species travel even further and save themselves in the central desert of Pangea.
Bunostegos was able to survive in the core desert of Pangea, have its food and reproduce. Apparently, this can direct the scientists to unveil more facts of the wilderness and the prehistoric ecosystem.
