Unlikely friendship between amphibian and a mammal in the great death: they were forever together in a small burrow in South Africa, which was discovered 50 years ago. Eternal moment went to history as “the Triassic warmth.”
250 million years ago, in the middle of great death, a unique moment of sharing was eternalized.
We discovered it in 1975-or rather the paleontologist James Kitching – When a fossilized burden was unearthed near the base of the gorge of Oliviershoek in South Africa.
If initially only the head of a Thrinaxodon was seen – a small reptile similar to a mammal – a more thorough exam revealed an unexpected presence in the small burrow: a rare amphibian known as Broomistega. Fossilized in close contact, in an eternal rest that would be known as “The Triassic Cuddle”(“ The Hug/Trussing warmth ”).
Thrinxodon was forever wrapped in the typical form of a lap, while the Broomistega was lying on his stomach on the mammal.
But how did this such unlikely friendship even happened?
Scientists wanted to answer this question and speculated that the amphibian, similar to a salamander, and the main occupant of the den – the mammal – would have been buried by the mud. But it was a lot of coincidence, the mud dripping and taking an amphibian to the mammal’s den.
Looking at the situation point, the position of “shell” was not accidental. The amphibian could actually be dragged to the other animal, larger and stronger, but the state of bones and the orientation of the fossil suggested the opposite.
Broomistega showed signs of healed injuries, including broken ribs, but did not correspond to the teeth of the one to whom he was grabbed forever, remembers the.
A hypothesis was left: The amphibian purposely entered the underground refuge in a sign of despairDuring the hard dry season, the most devastating extinction on planet Earth, which decimated about 90% of marine species and 70% of earthly life.
Thrinxodon, possibly in a state of deep sleep, may not have noticed or simply not bothered by the guest guest.
Love or not, what is certain is that the two animals were eventually buried together by a sudden flow of mud and other sediments.
