Mesosaurus Facts and Figures

Mesosaurus Facts and Figures Name: Mesosaurus (Greek for center reptile); articulated MAY-so-SORE-usHabitat: Swamps of Africa and South AmericaHistorical Period: Early Permian (300 million years ago)Size and Weight: About three feet in length and 10-20 poundsDiet: Plankton and little marine organismsDistinguishing Characteristics: Slender, crocodile-like body; long tail About Mesosaurus Mesosaurus was the odd duck (if youll pardon the blended species illustration) among its individual ancient reptiles of the early Permian time frame. For a certain something, this thin animal was an anapsid reptile, which means it didn't have any trademark openings on the sides of its skull, instead of a progressively regular synapsid (a classification that grasped the pelycosaurs, archosaurs and therapsids that went before the dinosaurs; today, the main living anapsids are turtles and tortoises). What's more, for another, Mesosaurus was one of the primary reptiles to come back to a mostly sea-going way of life from its completely earthbound ancestors, similar to the ancient creatures of land and water that went before it by a huge number of years. Anatomically, however, Mesosaurus was practically plain vanilla, looking somewhat like a little, ancient crocodile... that is, if youre willing the disregard the meager teeth in its jaws that appear to have been utilized to channel tiny fi sh. Presently that all that has been stated, in any case, the most significant thing about Mesosaurus is the place it lived. The fossils of this ancient reptile have been found in eastern South America and southern Africa, and since Mesosaurus lived in freshwater lakes and streams, it plainly couldnt have swum over the span of the southern Atlantic Ocean. Hence, the presence of Mesosaurus helps bolster the hypothesis of mainland float; that is, the now-all around confirmed reality that South America and Africa were consolidated into the mammoth landmass Gondwana 300 million years back before the mainland plates supporting them broke separated and floated into their present positions. Mesosaurus is significant for one more explanation: this is the most punctual recognized creature to have left amniote incipient organisms in the fossil record. Its generally accepted that amniote creatures existed two or three million years before Mesosaurus, as of late developed from the principal tetrapods to ascend onto dry land, however we still can't seem to recognize any definitive fossil proof for these early amniote incipient organisms.