image: This is a skull cast of the extinct reptile Purussaurus brasiliensis. The total length of the skull is 141 cm, and the mandible has 167 cm of length; the largest individual ever found, has a mandible of 175 cm in length. This reptile lived on the overbanks of the waning wetland and went extinct since the Pliocene. The original skull is on exhibition at the Laboratory of Paleontological Research of the Federal University of Acre (Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil). This image relates to an article that appeared in the Nov. 12, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Carina Hoorn of University of Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues was titled "Amazonia Through Time: Andean Uplift, Climate Change, Landscape Evolution, and Biodiversity." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Andrea Maciente, Brazil