Ancient predatory ‘platypus’ thrived in ‘world devastated by mass extinction’ – but 2ft creature was so bad at swimming it wouldn’t survive today
The strange creature lurked in shallow waters during the Triassic Period
A STRANGE ancient creature that skulked Earth's oceans 250 million years ago looked oddly similar to the duck-billed platypus.
The predator was half blind but a fearsome predator, snapping up its prey of worms and shrimp using a beak made of thick cartilage – just like a platypus.
It lived in the shallows of Earth's seas during the Triassic Period, and has been nicknamed the prehistoric platypus by the US boffins who found it.
"This is a very strange animal," said team member and University of California scientist Professor Ryosuke Motani.
"When I started thinking about the biology I was really puzzled."
Apart from its platypus-like bill, the newly found creature – full name Eretmorhipis carrolldongi – was about 70 centimeters long with a long rigid body.
It had the small head and beady eyes of a platypus, meaning it wouldn't have seen well in the water, and even used four flippers for swimming and steering.
The prehistoric creature was previously known only from partial fossils without a head, said Professor Motani.
Two new fossils analysed by his team show the animal's skull had bones that supported a bill of cartilage, the tremendously strong and flexible fibrous tissue found throughout our bodies.
Like the modern platypus, there is a large hole in the bones in the middle of the bill.
In the platypus, the bill is filled with receptors that allow it to hunt by touch in muddy streams, and scientists suggest its ancient counterpart hunted using a similar technique.
In the early Triassic, the area was covered by a shallow sea, about a meter deep, extending for hundreds of miles.
The prehistoric platypus likely hunted for shrimp, worms and other small creatures by pushing its beak along the muddy seafloor and snapping at prey.
Eretmorhipis thrived in a world devastated by the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian era.
Despite spending its life in shallow waters, the creature's long, bony body means it was probably a poor swimmer, Professor Motani said.
"It wouldn't survive in the modern world, but it didn't have any rivals at the time," he said.
A number of fascinating ancient creatures have recently been examined by scientists.
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In December, scientists got their hands on the first complete skeleton of a Marsupial Lion, an extinct Australian beast that was "unlike any living animal".
Ancient fat helped scientists discover the earliest confirmed animal in geological records in September – a prehistoric creature that lived on Earth around 558million years ago.
And a 15-metre sea monster dubbed ‘King Lizard’ was found to be the ocean's top predator 40million years ago, snacking on sharks for dinner.
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