Facts[]
A large, mammal-like reptile that resembled dinosaurs but were more closely related to mammals/humans. Their vast numbers made up almost more than half of life on Earth during the early Triassic period, as they lived in monster-sized herds. When moving in these herds, Lystrosaurus hovered up so much vegetation that they had to constantly migrate for fresh food. They followed the seasonal rains and each year, this brought them to the edge of a huge escarpment. Sometimes, the only way for these constant animals was down through a deep ravine. They moved mostly at night. In herds, there's only enough room to move in a single file, which left them very vulnerable. These creatures had sharp eyesight and a very good sense of smell but in cramped condition, it's hard to spot trouble ahead. Lystrosaurus were strong opponents. These animals had no social bonds. Lystrosaurs were also strong swimmers. For mammal-like reptiles, they had relatively large brains but were not direct mammal ancestors overall. Lystrosaurus ate a lot of vegetation, but it also needed to form herds to get to certain places to find new vegetation. Lystrosaurus had sharp eyesight and a good sense of smell. One of the last descendant of synapsids mammal-like reptile was Placerias , which lived in Mid Triassic, 220 million years ago.
Lystrosaurus walking on a desert ground. (Clash of Titans)
In the Series[]
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Clash of Titans[]
Lystrosaurus was depicted as a herd moving animal in the early Triassic, just as cattle, bison, and antelope today do. There's some evidence to support this, since paleontologists found Lystrosaurus fossils in herds when they perished. Lystrosaurus was also depicted to be a good swimmer, since it was able to cross a river, although Proterosuchus killed several of them.
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