Like a "giant salamander"

2 meter long prehistoric predator discovered in Namibia

The creature, which belongs to the tetrapods, lived around 280 million years ago in the Permian period - long before the first dinosaurs appeared.

(Bild: AP)

Researchers in Namibia have discovered an unusual prehistoric predator. The fanged head alone measured more than half a meter, the entire animal around two meters.

The creature, which resembles a giant salamander, was given the scientific name Gaiasia jennyae.

Around 300 million years ago, the swamp creature was probably lying in wait at the bottom of swamps and lakes, sucking in passing creatures with the opening of its broad, flat mouth and holding them with a powerful bite.

Predator lived long before dinosaurs
Remains of the species were found in the Gai-As Formation in north-western Namibia, as the team led by Jason Pardo from the Field Museum in Chicago reports. The creature, which belongs to the tetrapods, lived around 280 million years ago in the Permian period - long before the first dinosaurs appeared.

The animal is said to have looked like a giant salamander.

(Bild: Gabriel Lio)

It was a particularly archaic species of that time - organisms related to it had already died out around 40 million years earlier.

For being such a remnant of earlier times, the extraordinary creature had fared quite well - it appears to have been the most important predator in the ecosystem of the area. Other archaic animals 300 million years ago were small and rare.