Giant salamander-like monster with huge teeth and a head shaped ‘like a toilet seat’ roamed Africa’s swamps 40 million years before the dinosaurs, scientists say

Forty million years before the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, a far stranger monster was top of the food chain. 

Scientists have discovered the fossilised remains of a giant six foot-long salamander-like monster with an enormous ‘toilet seat-shaped head’.  

Named Gaiasia jennyae after the Gai-as Formation in Namibia where it was found, this terrifying creature would have lurked in swamps and lakes eating anything that came near.

And with a skull more than two feet long and a set of impressive interlocking fangs, palaeontologists believe Gaiasia would have been a fierce ambush predator. 

Co-lead author Dr Jason Pardo, of the Field Museum in Chicago, says: ‘It’s got a big, flat, toilet seat-shaped head, which allows it to open its mouth and suck in prey.’

One of the specimens was so well preserved researchers were able to find an articulated skull and spine hidden in the rock

Although Namibia is just north of South Africa today, 300 million years ago it would have been far further south – near the northernmost point of Antarctica today.

At this time the Ice Age was nearing its end and the lands nearer the equator were drying up and becoming forested.

But in the warmer areas near the poles swamps and lakes still existed where  this bizarre new species could make its home. 

Dr Pardo and his co-author Claudia Marsicano of the University of Buenos Aires discovered the fossilised remains of four creatures in a rock formation dating back 280 million years.  

Considerably larger than a person – so more than 6 feet – and with a massive skull and huge fangs, Gaiasia would have been a terrifying but slow ambush hunter.

Dr Marsicano says: ‘When we found this enormous specimen just lying on the outcrop as a giant concretion, it was really shocking. 

‘I knew just from seeing it that it was something completely different. We were all very excited.’

This creature gets its name from the Gai-as Formation in Namibia where it was found in a rock face dating back 280 million years

Researchers discovered four well preserved specimens of Gaiasia jennyae in a region of modern day Namibia

The researchers believe that Gaisia (pictured) would have been a fearsome, if slow, ambush predator that lurked at the bottom of lakes and swamps

One of those specimens was particularly well preserved, featuring an articulated head and spine which reveals an extremely unusual feature.

Gaiasia’s skull displayed a highly unusual set of interlocking large fangs creating a unique bite for early tetrapods – the four-limbed vertebrates that evolved from lobe-finned fishes and gave rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. 

Doctor Pardo says: ‘It has these huge fangs, the whole front of the mouth is just giant teeth ‘

This unusual jaw structure would have let this ambush predator grab and hold large prey in the prehistoric swamps of Namibia. 

It is these features which made it one of the top predators in the prehistoric ecosystem.

Researchers were surprised to discover that the ancient animal had a full set of interlocking fangs which was highly unusual for creatures from this period

Gaisia s a evolutionary holdover related to species which died out 40 million years ago, however, researchers believe it would have been one of the top predators in its ecosystem

The earliest known dinosaurs appeared during the Triassic Period – approximately 250 to 200 million years ago, but Gaiasia pre-dates them by 40 million years. 

Doctor Pardo says: ‘There are some other more archaic animals still hanging on 300 million years ago, but they were rare, they were small, and they were doing their own thing.

‘Gaisia is big, and it is abundant, and it seems to be the primary predator in its ecosystem.’

The species is detailed further in a new study published today in Nature.  

EARTH HAS HAD FIVE GREAT EXTINCTION EVENTS WITH THE MOST FAMOUS A DINOSAUR KILLING ASTEROID

Five times, a vast majority of the world’s life has been snuffed out in what have been called mass extinctions.

End-Ordovician mass extinction
The first of the traditional big five extinction events, around 540 million years ago, was probably the second most severe. Virtually all life was in the sea at the time and around 85% of these species vanished.

Late Devonian mass extinction

About 375-359 million years ago, major environmental changes caused a drawn-out extinction event that wiped out major fish groups and stopped new coral reefs forming for 100 million years.

Five times, a vast majority of the world’s life has been snuffed out in what have been called mass extinctions. The most famous may be the End-Cretaceous, which wiped out the dinosaurs. Artist’s impression

End-Permian mass extinction (the Great Dying)
The largest extinction event and the one that affected the Earth’s ecology most profoundly took place 252 million years ago. As much as 97% of species that leave a fossil record disappeared forever.

End-Triassic mass extinction
Dinosaurs first appeared in the Early Triassic, but large amphibians and mammal-like reptiles were the dominant land animals. The rapid mass extinction that occurred 201 million years ago changed that.

End-Cretaceous mass extinction

An asteroid slammed down on Earth 66 million years ago, and is often blamed for ending the reign of the dinosaurs.