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 an increasingly 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). Also, for another, Mesosaurus was one of the principal reptiles to come back to an incompletely oceanic way of life from its completely earthly progenitors, similar to the ancient creatures of land and water that went before it by a huge number of years. Anatomically, however, Mesosaurus was basically plain vanilla, looking somewhat like a little, ancient crocodile... that is, if youre willing the disregard the flimsy teeth in its jaws that appear to have been utilized to channel tiny fish. 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 waterways, it plainly couldnt have swum over the region of the southern Atlantic Ocean. Hence, the presence of Mesosaurus helps bolster the hypothesis of mainland float; that is, the now-very much bore witness to actuality that South America and Africa were combined into the monster 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 soonest distinguished creature to have left amniote undeveloped 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 main tetrapods to move up onto dry land, however we presently can't seem to recognize any decisive fossil proof for these early amniote undeveloped organisms.