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A rare, nearly complete fossil of a Dimetrodon, a reptile-predator that roamed the Permian landscape, has been discovered by paleontologists in northern Texas.
During an expedition to the site of its discovery, the Craddock Ranch in Baylor county, on Dec. 11 to 12, Robert Bakker, curator of the Houston Museum of Natural Science and director of the dig that unearthed the fossil, and his team of paleontologists and volunteers, were completing their field work: picking away the soil to unearth the rib cage of this fossil dubbed "Wet Willi."
The face, jaws, and neck of the Dimetrodon had already been unearthed and wrapped up with plaster, Bakker said.
The parts of the Dimetrodon will then be transported to Houston and "then the lab will clear up all the rocks and then the bones will be completely free," the director of the dig said.
All parts of the Dimetrodon will be glued together, and the whole skeleton will be on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2012.
Thousands of pieces of Dimetrodon bones had been found on the Craddock Ranch, known worldwide as the place that has more Dimetrodon bones than the rest of the world put together. But until this year, the researchers and their team of volunteers had not turned up anything as complete as "Wet Willi".
The fossil was first discovered in June this year by David Temple, the associate curator of paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
The fossil was baptized "Wet Willi"-- "Wet" because it was discovered while Temple was excavating a drainage trench on the ranch, and "Willi" for Samuel Williston, a paleontologist and educator who worked at the site 100 years ago.
"Willi" represents a subspecies, Dimetrodon Giganhomogenes, originally described by paleontologist E.C. Case in 1907. "Willi" is the first example of this specimen found with the head attached.
Worldwide, only six to seven complete fossils of Dimetrodons have been unearthed, and three of them, including "Wet Willi," have been discovered on the Craddock Ranch, Temple told Xinhua reporters who witnessed the discovery.
In many popular culture references, the Dimetrodon is often erroneously depicted as a dinosaur or a species living alongside the dinosaurs. But in fact, the Dimetrodon is the earliest top predator on land and lived some 70 million years before the dinosaurs, Bakker said.
In life, "Willi" was the dominant predator of his world, and was about 3 meters long with a one-meter high vertical fin running down the length of his body.
The purpose of the prominent fin that defines this species has been debated since it was first discovered by paleontologist Edward Cope in Texas in 1878.
It was originally suggested that the fin was used for thermoregulation, or self-regulation of the body temperature when the outside temperature varied drastically. However, it now seems more likely that this fin was just for show -- to intimidate enemies or attract potential mates.
"Wet Willi" is a half-grown young adult Dimetrodon about 6 or 7 years old, Bakker said. He is about the size of a small tiger. What makes the fossil so rare is that the Dimetrodon's neck, face, jaws and rib cage had all been found together. "That's the best we have here," Bakker said.
The Dimetrodon's film debut was in the 1959 movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The members of Lindenbrook's expedition encounter a herd of Dimetrodons on the beach of a subterranean ocean. At first the hungry Dimetrodons try to kill them. But when Hans kills one Dimetrodon, the herd starts eating the killed Dimetrodon and pays no more attention to the humans who escape on a raft. Lindenbrook claims that Dimetrodons can't swim.
The Dimetrodon has also been featured in various television programs. In the 1974 television series "Land of the Lost," a very large Dimetrodon, about 8 meters long, first appeared in the season 3 episode "Cornered." The Dimetrodon in this series was like a fire-breathing dragon and ate coal.
The new find may help clear up questions about how many Dimetrodon species there were, Bakker said, adding that "Wet Willi" will also be an educational tool. Since children love fossils, "Wet Willi" can help stoke children's love of science, Bakker said.
XINHUA
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