The fossils uncovered in Wyoming reveal an ancestor of the last remaining rhynchocephalian on Earth.
rhynchocephalians could be found all over the world, came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and were everything from aquatic fish hunters to bulky plant munchers. It is not still understood why, rhynchocephalians all-but disappeared, while snakes and lizards grew to be the more common and diverse reptiles across the globe.
More study of these specimens could reveal why just New Zealand’s tuatara is surviving today. “These animals may have disappeared partly because of competition from lizards but perhaps also due to global shifts in climate and changing habitats,”“It’s fascinating when you have the dominance of one group giving way to another group over evolutionary time, and we still need more evidence to explain exactly what happened, but fossils like this one are how we will put it together.
The team used CT scans to capture everything they possibly could about the fossil and created a nearly complete 3D reconstruction of the animal. The 3D skull is of particular interest. “Such a complete specimen has huge potential for making comparisons with fossils collected in the future and for identifying or reclassifying specimens already sitting in a museum drawer somewhere,” said research associate, David DeMar Jr.,
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