https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-reveal-face-of-10-foot-killer-tadpole-that-terrorized-earth-long-before-the-dinosaurs/ar-AA1aNnyz
Scientists have known about the extinct species, Crassigyrinus scoticus, for a decade. But because all known fossils of the primordial carnivore are severely crushed, it has been difficult to find out more about it. Now, advances in computed tomography (CT) scanning and 3D visualization have allowed researchers to digitally piece the fragments back together for the first time, revealing more details about the ancient beast.
Previous research has shown that C. scoticus was a tetrapod, a four-limbed animal related to the first creatures to transition from water to land. Tetrapods began appearing on Earth around 400 million years ago, when the earliest tetrapods started evolving from lobe-finned fishes.
Unlike its relatives, C. scoticus was an aquatic animal. The new research, carried out by scientists at University College London, shows the animal had huge teeth and powerful jaws. Although its name means “thick tadpole,” the study shows C. scoticus had a relatively flat body and very short limbs, similar to a crocodile or alligator.
In life, Crassigyrinus would have been around two to three metres long, which was quite big for the time.
C. scoticus was also adapted to hunt prey in swampy terrain. The new facial reconstruction shows it had large eyes to see in muddy water, as well as lateral lines, a sensory system that allows animals to detect vibrations in water.
In earlier studies, Porro said, scientists reconstructed C. scoticus with a very tall skull, similar to that of a Moray eel. “However, when I tried to mimic that shape with the digital surface from CT scans, it just didn’t work,” Porro explained. “There was no chance that an animal with such a wide palate and such a narrow skull roof could have had a head like that.”
(mollwollfumble notes that that is a good call. Salamanders all have a wide flat skull, as do ancient amphibians such as koolasuchus.)
Full article in Vertebrate Paleontology at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2023.2183134
The early tetrapod Crassigyrinus scoticus was a large aquatic predator known from the lower- to mid-Carboniferous (upper Tournasian to upper Visean/lower Serpukovian, approximately 350–330 Ma) of Scotland and Canada.
