A fossil found on Prince Edward Island in 1845 by a farmer has finally been identified. Canadian researchers examined the fossil and reveal that the famous Bathygnathus borealis was in fact a Dimetrodon.
Researchers from the University of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum and the Carleton University found that Bathygnathus borealis, a partial snout with maxillary dentition found in the island, belonged to an ancient Dimetrodon. The fossil was examined through computed tomography (CT) scan imaging and family tree analysis.
Dimetrodons are often mistaken for dinosaurs but they occurred around 40 million years ago before the appearance of dinosaurs. In fact, it is a prehistoric reptile known as a pelycosaur. The fossil was the first and only one ever found in Canada.
"It's really exciting to discover that the detailed anatomy of the teeth has finally allowed us to identify precisely this important Canadian fossil," study's lead author Kirstin Brink said.
When the farmer discovered the fossil, he sold it to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Joseph Leidy, a paleontologist studying animal fossils in North America during that time, thought that the fossil is the lower jaw of a dinosaur. Thus, it was named Bathygnathus borealis where Bathygnathus means 'deep jaw' and borealis means 'of the north'.
It was not until Paleontologist Kirstin Brink researched about the fossil when she was undertaking her paper on Dimetrodons. She asked for permission and brought the fossil to Toronto for further examination.
The triangular teeth found in Bathygnathus had serrations on the front and back, just like those of Dimetrodons from Texas.
"These are blade-like teeth with tiny serrations along the front and back of the teeth, similar to a steak knife. The roots of these teeth are very long, around double the length of the crowns," Professor Robert Reisz, the senior author of the study said.
Brink said that in adapting a scientific name from two separate groups of animals, the older one of the two names will be applied. In this case, Dimetrodon might lose its name since Bathygnathus was given in 1853 while the other one in the 1870s.
"As Bathygnathus has priority over Dimetrodon in the scientific literature, we suggest a reversal of precedence is required to preserve the familiar name Dimetrodon and to maintain universality, thus recognizing the new species Dimetrodon borealis," the authors concluded in the study.
The study was published in the journal Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
