Fossils, Rock Art, and Ancient Mysteries: San Cave Paintings and Dicynodonts
Rediscovering Ancient Knowledge through Fossils
A mysterious animal painting1 on a cave wall in South Africa’s Free State Province has long puzzled scientists. Depicted with two large downward-pointing tusks, the animal doesn’t resemble any current African species, and early speculations linked it to legendary creatures like walruses or saber-toothed cats2. However, emerging research3 suggests that the painting may depict an extinct creature—specifically a dicynodont, an ancestor of mammals that thrived millions of years ago in the region.
