Evolution: giant armored species before crocodiles (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 17:28 (39 days ago) @ David Turell

Literally like tanks and preceding dinosaurs:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240318164517.htm

"Dinosaurs get all the glory. But aetosaurs, a heavily armored cousin of modern crocodiles, ruled the world before dinosaurs did. These tanks of the Triassic came in a variety of shapes and sizes before going extinct around 200 million years ago. Today, their fossils are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

"Scientists use the bony plates that make up aetosaur armor to identify different species and usually don't have many fossil skeletons to work with. But a new study led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin centers on an aetosaur suit of armor that has most of its major parts intact.

"The suit -- called a carapace -- is about 70% complete and covers each major region of the body.

***

"Reyes and his collaborators used the armor to identify the specimen as a new aetosaur species -- which they named Garzapelta muelleri. The name "Garza" recognizes Garza County in northwest Texas, where the aetosaur was found, and "Pelta" is Latin for shield, a nod to aetosaurs' heavily fortified body. The species name "muelleri" honors the paleontologist who originally discovered it, Bill Mueller.

"Garzapelta lived about 215 million years ago and resembled a modern American crocodile -- but with much more armor.

"'Take a crocodile from modern day, and turn it into an armadillo," said Reyes.

"The bony plates that covered Garzapelta and other aetosaurs are called osteoderms. They were embedded directly in the skin and formed a suit of armor by fitting together like a mosaic. In addition to having a body covered in bony plates, Garzapelta's sides were flanked by curved spikes that would have offered another layer of protection from predators. Although crocodiles today are carnivores, scientists think that aetosaurs were primarily omnivorous.

***

"Garzapelta is part of the Texas Tech University fossil collections. It spent most of the past 30 years on a shelf before Reyes encountered it during a visit. Bill Parker, an aetosaur expert and park paleontologist at Petrified Forest National Park who was not part of the research, said that university and museum collections are a critical part of making this type of research possible."

Comment: viewed from dhw's perspective, some horrible enemies had to exist to force this guy to require this degree of plate armor to survive.