This giant prehistoric predator lived long before the dinosaurs

The discovery of a skull in Southern Brazil has revealed that at least one giant prehistoric predator roamed the world before dinosaurs did.

The predator in question is Pampaphoneus biccai, an early therapsid clade dinocephalia, which is a group of large and frightening land-born animals.

The architecture of the skull suggests that the creature had a bite strong enough to chew clean through bones, similar to modern-day hyenas, which also feed on meat and bones.

Researchers are unsure what caused the massive extinction event that wiped out 86 percent of all Earth 's animal species.