A San cave painting of a mysterious animal in the Free State may represent an ancient species, reports Wits palaeontologist.
Image: Wits.ac.za
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Dr. Julien Benoit, associate professor in vertebrate palaeontology at Wits, proposes that a mysterious cave painting on a farm called La Belle France in the Free State could be depicting a dicynodont – an extinct mammalian that roamed millions of years before the San inhabited the region.
Benoit’s research indicates that the San people, known for their detailed ecological knowledge, may have discovered dicynodont fossils in the area and attempted to reconstruct the living animal in their artwork.
Furthermore, Benoit and his colleagues found that the San had discovered dinosaur bones and depicted dinosaur footprints on cave walls in Lesotho, which borders the Free State.
This research suggests that the San may have had awareness of these extinct species long before Western scientific discoveries in the field of palaeontology.
Read Benoit’s article published by The Conversation and his paper here.
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