A disastrous event, which we know today as ‘the Great Dying’, had destroyed majority of life forms on our planet a quarter of a billion years back. However, researchers have found a reptile which they believe, managed to survive those extreme conditions. The research team has found a fossil of that ancient reptile named Teyujagua paradoxa.

There is a tiny skull with serrated teeth of an ancient reptile that was able to survive the extinction and colonized an almost empty world. The relative of this reptile evolved into the birds, dinosaurs, and crocodiles that ruled the land for the following 180 million years.

Known as Teyujagua paradoxa, or ‘fierce lizard’, the species was lately found in Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil. The researchers behind the discovery of the skull published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports on Friday.

In an email, an author of the paper Felipe Pinheiro, a researcher from the Federal University of Pampa in Brazil, said that Teyujagua paradoxa used to live in a destroyed world and belonged to a ‘fortunate’ branch of the life’s tree that managed to survive the biggest mass extinction of all time.

Dr. Pinheiro mentioned that the discovery has provided researchers with information about transition between primitive reptiles and a group of creatures known as archosauriformes, including the Tyrannosaurus rex and the hummingbird.

The discovery was made when one of Dr. Pinheiro’s students accidentally found what seemed like a rock having white bones and teeth when the team was excavating a dig site dating back to 250 million years ago.

He mentioned, “Even in the field it became clear that we had a complete skull of a completely unknown species in our hands”.

Now, the team is looking forward to continue excavating the location where they have discovered the skull with the hope of detecting more hints related to why some ancient species succeeded whereas others perished.