Discovery Reveals Ancient Brazil Had Fanged Eels

Researchers recently unearthed a bunch of fossils in Brazil, and among them are two new species of dvinosaur. Of the two new species, one of them features fangs in addition to gills, meaning ancient Brazil was once far more terrifying than it is today. In addition to discovering fossils of fanged eels, the oldest terrestrial reptile skeleton ever found in South America was uncovered. The fossils were found in northeastern Brazil.

These fanged eels would have appeared like a cross between an eel and a Mexican salamander, according to researchers; an artist's representation of what they may have looked like is shown above.

This eel has been dubbed these Timona anneae, and it was discovered alongside the Procuhy nazariensis, a likely closely related but non-fanged eel.

The cache of fossils date back to 278 million or so years ago, back when all the continents formed one supercontinent. That makes the find particularly exciting.

According to Dr. Martha Richter of London's National History Museum, "The discovery is remarkable as most of what we understand about the evolution and adaption of amphibians through time is based on animals located in Europe and North America."

The researchers' efforts have been detailed in a new report in Nature.

SOURCE: BBC News