About 280 million years ago, in the Lower Permian, the Thuringian Forest in central Germany was a plateau with a tropical climate in the central mountains of Pangea, traces of which have been preserved in the deposits of the Tambach formation. These highland deposits are a rarity; Most of the world’s paleontological sites correspond to seas or lowlands.
Tambach’s vegetation is reminiscent of today’s savannahs, except for the absence of grasses, which still had two hundred million years to evolve. During the wet season, the intense rains form ephemeral lakes, which evaporate in a few days or weeks with the arrival of the dry season, with hot days and cold nights due to the altitude of the region. However, moisture does not actually disappear from muddy soil, so plants do not need to develop deep roots or other adaptations to dry environments. Above all, conifers and tree horsetails abound; ferns are rare. Invertebrates include insects, mollusks, worms, and freshwater jellyfish.
We already know some inhabitants of Pangea from this time, such as the aquatic amphibian Diplocaulus and the large sail predator Dimetrodon, both discovered in North America, although they most likely ranged over much of the supercontinent. But in the Tambach formation, due to the intermittency of the lakes, the aquatic vertebrates common in other parts of Pangea are absent; the only amphibians that live in the region are adapted to life on land. And carnivorous synapsids like Dimetrodon are smaller and less abundant than their North American relatives. The most abundant vertebrates in Tambach are herbivores.
One of these herbivores is Eudibamus, a small reptile about twenty-five centimeters in length and less than one kilo in weight. Its head is triangular, with a rounded snout and small pointed teeth. But the most striking are its hind legs, much longer and stronger than the front ones. Eudibamus is the oldest known bipedal tetrapod; it was capable of running at high speed on its hind legs to escape predators. However, this animal is not the ancestor of the dinosaurs; It belongs to the group of bolosaurs, which became extinct without leaving any descendants.
The most abundant herbivores in the region belong to two groups: the diadectids, tetrapods close to the ancestors of the amniotes, which show both amphibious and reptilian characteristics; and the caseids, robust-bodied animals close to the ancestors of mammals. Both groups were widespread throughout the supercontinent of Pangea, and are among the earliest herbivorous tetrapods in history.
The diadectids were the first terrestrial tetrapods that reached great size. They have a broad and short skull, with a blunt snout, strong jaws equipped with teeth adapted for cutting and chewing hard and fibrous plant matter, an elongated body, relatively short legs and a long tail. At least two species live on the Tambach Plateau. Orobates, an animal similar to a salamander, 85 centimeters in length and four kilos in weight, has only been found here. In addition to the bones, their footprints have also been found. In 2019, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and technicians from several European research centers built a robotic Orobates to simulate its way of walking, which according to the study’s conclusions was more like that of an alligator than a salamander, with legs relatively erect and lateral undulations of the body. The second diadectid, Diadectes, is also known from other Pangean deposits in North America. Diadectes is a stocky animal measuring five to three meters in length, with a thick skull and short, stout legs. The spatula-shaped front teeth are used to cut vegetation, while the wider lateral ones grind food. It also has a secondary palate, thanks to which it is able to chew and breathe at the same time.
Among the caseids, Martensius stands out. Its name is a tribute to the German paleontologist Thomas Martens, from the Gotha Nature Museum, the first to discover fossil bones in the region in 1974. Caseids have a small, square head, with a pronounced snout on the upper jaw, a short neck, a stout, barrel-shaped body, and a long tail. The nostrils are large, and probably house sensory or moisture-conserving organs. The teeth are all the same, long and unspecialized, and are visible with the mouth closed. The palate is also covered with small teeth. Martensius is a small caseid, about two feet long. Its head is longer and more triangular than that of other members of the group. The relatively large hands and feet end in long, curved, pointed claws.
Between 1995 and 2006, four well-preserved Martensius skeletons have been discovered, of which the largest, an adult, and the smallest, a juvenile, are fairly complete. The comparison between the two skeletons has revealed substantial differences that indicate a change in the way of life and diet throughout the development of the animal. Juvenile teeth are small and conical, adapted to an insectivorous diet. Those of the adults, however, are triangular and slightly curved, suitable for cutting and crushing the tough vegetation of their habitat. In addition, the ribcage and abdomen become more voluminous with age, which allows them to accommodate a larger digestive system, necessary to carry out the fermentation of the plant diet. Strong claws on hands and feet are also used for digging for roots and tubers, and adults are capable of rearing up on hind legs to reach higher branches.
Martensius is one of the most primitive caseids that we know of. Only Eocasea, from the Upper Carboniferous of Kansas, about three hundred million years ago, is more primitive. Due to its dentition, Eocasea was not herbivorous, like the other caseids, but insectivorous, although it is a specimen that had not completed its growth, so we cannot be sure that it did not undergo transformations similar to those of Martensius in its birth. development. Similar changes in the dentition during growth have also been described in Diadectes. It seems that this transition from insectivorous to herbivorous throughout the life of the first herbivorous tetrapods was crucial to obtain the intestinal flora necessary to digest plant cellulose, thanks to the microorganisms that were already present in the digestive system of insects. herbivores.
CONSTRUCTION OF GERMAN FERNÁNDEZ:
reticular infiltrate
Reticular Infiltrator is the first novel in the trilogy The Saga of the Borelians. Do you want to see how it starts? Here you can read the first two chapters.
The Karnak file. Ed.Rubeo
The hanged man and other fantastic tales. Ed.Rubeo