In Portugal, discovered a new species of giant amphibians – Century – Daily Newspaper

Posted 03/24/2015 14:03. Edited 24.03.2015 15:00

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The new species was found in the study of bones found in the Portuguese region of the Algarve. During the excavation pit was discovered by researchers, which lay more than a hundred bones.

Amphibian, dubbed Metoposaurus algarvensis, eat fish. While hunting is like a crocodile. However, the animal looks more like a modern salamanders and newts, with the only difference that could grow to the size of the car.

Most of the members of the species Metoposaurus extinct 201 million years ago, long before the extinction of the dinosaurs. This event marked the end of the Triassic period, when a huge prehistoric land, known as Pangaea became divided into continents.

Despite the huge variety of prehistoric animals, known to modern science, the researchers did not stop to find the remains of a previously unknown representatives of the terrestrial fauna. For example, last year in Antarctica was discovered an ancient skeleton of a giant penguin.

Scientists gave his discovery the name Palaeeudyptes klekowskii. The researchers found that the growth of individuals found almost reached 2 meters. Body weight of these animals reached 115 kilograms.

These figures are record for Antarctica. Describing his discovery, scientists from Argentina expressed genuine surprise how big were the ancient specimens: “About 40 million years ago on the planet went penguins, which is suitable word colossi. Standing they stood two meters ».

It is worth noting that the giant penguins lived in New Zealand. Several years ago, scientists reported the discovery of the remains of a penguin, weighing up to 60 pounds.

Some experts argue that the remains of the penguins look like the skeleton of modern birds, but the ancient birds had a more slender and plastic bodies, in addition, they were long beaks.

Now the largest penguin in Antarctica is considered Emperor Penguin. The maximum growth of this penguin is 1 meter 36 centimeters, and the weight is 46 pounds.