First Animal To Walk On Four Legs Found In Sahara Desert
The phrase “when dinosaurs walked the earth” is one that gets thrown out a lot while discussing the past. It invokes the thought of towering, scaled beasts stomping their way across Pangaea, but it’s worth remembering that there were likely species that preempted the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex. At the very least, one of them has been found — even if it’s just the ancient remains.
The skull of the creature was first unearthed in the Sahara Desert, and the three years that followed had scientists working to excavate the rest of the remains. Now there’s plenty of evidence to go by, as well as a name: Bunostegos akokanensis. It stood roughly the size of a cow, but the fact that it stood at all is the key point; the skeletal structure may have denied it certain movements modern-day animals enjoy, but its posture still implies that it could do plenty of walking if the need arose. Depending on the status of its habitat, it may have constantly had the need.
The Bunostegos is probably hiding even more secrets and details, but scientists have confidently found at least one. The fossils found date back to a whopping 260 million years ago — so if the Bunostegos really is the earliest animal to walk upright, then it changes the common understanding of evolution, timeframe or otherwise. Even if it’s not the earliest, then it’s still a welcome addition to the history books.
