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06-25-2013, 12:12 AM
Who you calling an ugly cow? Fossils of hideous bovine-like animal that predated the dinosaurs is discovered
Is this the ugliest reptile that ever lived?
The bizarre creature evolved in isolation 260 million years ago
Reptile bunostegos has unsightly bulbous lumps on its head and back
Scientist calls the striking creature 'beautifully bizarre'
By SAM WEBB
A cow-like reptile that may have been one of nature's ugliest beasts roamed an isolated desert before the age of the dinosaurs.
The creature's genus name - bunostegos - means 'knobby roof' and gives a clue to its appearance.
About the size of a domestic cow, the plant-eater had bulbous tumour-like growths sprouting from its head and bony armour down its back.
Fossils from bunostegos dating back around 260 million years to the Permian era were found in what is now northern Niger in Africa.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/24/article-2347737-1A7C5F87000005DC-228_634x475.jpg
No oil painting: An artist's impression of the Bunostegos, a cow-sized plant-eating reptile that lived more than 250 million years ago
Back then the Earth was dominated by a single continent called Pangea. Bunostegos lived in an isolated desert in the middle of Pangea with unique fauna.
Cousins of the creature have previously been unearthed that also had bony knobs on their skulls, but those of the bunostegos are the largest and most bulbous ever discovered.
Details of the find appear in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The discovery suggests that pareiasaurs, the reptile family to which bunostegos belonged, may have evolved in isolation for millions of years.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/24/article-2347737-0066CF6D00000258-749_634x310.jpg
Successor: The naked mole rat, a fellow native of Africa, is considered one of the ugliest living creatures
Climatic conditions may have corralled bunostegos, along with several other reptiles, amphibians and plants, in the centre of the supercontinent.
Geological data also shows that central Pangea was extremely dry, which would have prevented the movement of animals in and out of the region.
Dr Gabe Bever, from the New York Institute of Technology, said: 'Our understanding of the Permian and the mass extinction that ended it depends on discovery of more fossils like the beautifully bizarre bunostegos.'
Study leader Dr Christian Sidor, from the University of Washington in Seattle, US, said: 'Our work supports the theory that central Pangea was climatically isolated, allowing a unique relict fauna to persist into the late Permian.'
Some living animals considered the ugliest in nature are the naked mole rat, the Lake Titicaca frog and the vulture.
Is this the ugliest reptile that ever lived?
The bizarre creature evolved in isolation 260 million years ago
Reptile bunostegos has unsightly bulbous lumps on its head and back
Scientist calls the striking creature 'beautifully bizarre'
By SAM WEBB
A cow-like reptile that may have been one of nature's ugliest beasts roamed an isolated desert before the age of the dinosaurs.
The creature's genus name - bunostegos - means 'knobby roof' and gives a clue to its appearance.
About the size of a domestic cow, the plant-eater had bulbous tumour-like growths sprouting from its head and bony armour down its back.
Fossils from bunostegos dating back around 260 million years to the Permian era were found in what is now northern Niger in Africa.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/24/article-2347737-1A7C5F87000005DC-228_634x475.jpg
No oil painting: An artist's impression of the Bunostegos, a cow-sized plant-eating reptile that lived more than 250 million years ago
Back then the Earth was dominated by a single continent called Pangea. Bunostegos lived in an isolated desert in the middle of Pangea with unique fauna.
Cousins of the creature have previously been unearthed that also had bony knobs on their skulls, but those of the bunostegos are the largest and most bulbous ever discovered.
Details of the find appear in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The discovery suggests that pareiasaurs, the reptile family to which bunostegos belonged, may have evolved in isolation for millions of years.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/24/article-2347737-0066CF6D00000258-749_634x310.jpg
Successor: The naked mole rat, a fellow native of Africa, is considered one of the ugliest living creatures
Climatic conditions may have corralled bunostegos, along with several other reptiles, amphibians and plants, in the centre of the supercontinent.
Geological data also shows that central Pangea was extremely dry, which would have prevented the movement of animals in and out of the region.
Dr Gabe Bever, from the New York Institute of Technology, said: 'Our understanding of the Permian and the mass extinction that ended it depends on discovery of more fossils like the beautifully bizarre bunostegos.'
Study leader Dr Christian Sidor, from the University of Washington in Seattle, US, said: 'Our work supports the theory that central Pangea was climatically isolated, allowing a unique relict fauna to persist into the late Permian.'
Some living animals considered the ugliest in nature are the naked mole rat, the Lake Titicaca frog and the vulture.