San rock paintings in South Africa likely depict extinct dicynodonts, showcasing early local engagement in paleontology before Western discovery.
San rock artists may have painted an ancient animal that roamed southern Africa over 250 million years ago, according to new research published in Plos One.
The painting, located in a cave on the La Belle France farm in the Free State province of South Africa, may be the world’s oldest known piece of paleo-art depicting an extinct mammal-like reptile called a dicynodont, predating the creature’s official scientific discovery by at least a decade.
Reinterpreting Misidentified Rock Art
Professor Julien Benoit, a paleontologist at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University), has reinterpreted this mysterious rock art, which had previously been misidentified as a walrus-like creature or even a surviving saber-toothed cat.
“While the image strangely looks like a walrus, there are no such animals in Africa,” says Benoit.
Linking Art to Paleontological Discoveries
Dicynodonts are ancient relatives of mammals that roamed the Earth between 265 and 200 million years ago. The Karoo region of South Africa, where the painting was discovered, is renowned for its rich fossil deposits of these creatures.
“The San lived and hunted among Karoo fossil footprints, bones, skulls, and teeth of long-extinct reptiles,” says Benoit. “This painting provides compelling evidence that they not only discovered these fossils but also attempted to reconstruct the living animal in their art.”
Evidence of Early Paleontological Insights
Benoit has found numerous fossil bones near the cave, supporting the theory that San artists based their depictions on actual fossil discoveries. Intriguingly, the painted animal’s body posture mimics the “death pose” commonly seen in fossilized skeletons, further strengthening the connection to paleontological findings.
The painting is estimated to have been created no later than 1835, predating the first scientific description of dicynodonts in 1845 by British paleontologist Sir Richard Owen. This timeline establishes the San as pioneering paleontologists, recognizing and depicting extinct species well before the formal scientific community.
“This finding is extraordinary. It suggests that the San people were engaging in palaeontology long before Western scientists even knew these creatures existed,” says Benoit.
Cultural and Mythological Significance
A San myth recalls that “enormous brutes” now completely extinct, used to roam southern Africa a very long time ago. This story may refer to the dicynodont fossils of the Karoo that the San discovered and tried to interpret. The study of the La Belle France cave painting and its mysterious animal supports this.
“The dicynodont may have been depicted as a ‘rain-animal,’ a mythical creature in San cosmology. They might have held special significance in San paintings.”
This research not only rewrites the history of paleontology but also highlights the deep scientific understanding and keen observational skills of indigenous communities. It opens up new avenues for interpreting rock art and understanding the complex relationship between ancient peoples and the prehistoric world around them.
Reference: “A possible later stone age painting of a dicynodont (Synapsida) from the South African Karoo” by Julien Benoit, 18 September 2024, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309908
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61 Comments
Look carefully at the original art and it’s nothing near the black and white walrus-like cartoon.
The animal is a common (there) honey badger that’s caught a snake – they kill and eat cobras…
Agreed, eating a snake.
Highest probability is these creatures and many others existed, no as far as they would have you believe. Evidence suggest many of these creatures were hunter to extinction by humans/great flood killed off. Remainder died off after. Some like pterodactyl species. Evidence shows westerners killed off them during the expanse to North America. Pointing that high odds the animals found in rock art drawn with skin and pattern, are highly likely to be accurate. As these people’s interacted and avoid many. Of these beasts in their lives
This is confusing. This is art on a cave wall from a couple of hundred years ago? I don’t think it’s reasonable to say that one image on a wall that seems to be modeled on a fossil shows that the culture or the people in general engaged in paleontology. There’s no evidence mentioned of a systemized deliberate study. I think that’s an incredible stretch and it’s a bit cringy as it stands. If there is evidence of a thorough study, the article should say so.
I’m confused by the description of the image where it says ancient paintings show this extinct creature. That seems to be the image referred to in the article but 200 years ago is hardly ancient. Is the author is using the word “ancient” inappropriately?
Clearly, the painting was originally misconstrued due to Global Warming. Global Warming Puffy Clouds mixed with rising atmospheric carbons and formed a hallucinogen which sank back to sea level forming a conflagration of confusion in the upper cortex of the viewer. We must ban all vehicles immediately lest a Puffy Cloud Conflagration confuses mankind into worldwide Global Warming Dooms & Glooms causing destruction of all mankind and other nasties.
“Confusion in the upper cortex of the viewer”
🤣🤣🤣 I laughed so hard I cried, for a bout half an hour. I have stomach pains from laughing and its still funny
A cave painting that is less than, checks notes, 200 years old is rewriting paleontology because some creature wasn’t scientifically described for another 10 years? Weird case to put a dramatic headline on.
1. I didn’t know people were around 250 million years ago.
2. I wouldn’t assume they tried to put bones together. I’d assume the creature LIVED during this time and the people depicted it.
No. That makes too much sense.
You may be right. The body color pattern and head shape sort of fit. However, the short stubby legs on the barrel-like body would seem to say no. Also notice the extension of the left tusk further down. Some of the paint has sloughed away. The two sides are symmetrical as tusks would be. I’d say a case can be made either way.
I say it should researched more because of you research it a bit more you might get more information and find out more information to certify the creacher real name to so please put a little more effort on it okay and God bless you all Sincerely Rosa 🙏🙌🙏❤️
This rock art is clearly not a image of a dicynodont. With the slim neck and long beak, it can only be some type of bird.
I’ve always thought that the archeology community At most just guessed at how old sites were and why people in the past just painted their dreams or fantasies. Along with covering up sites that showed the truth of time and what these sites represented. The Core of their problem now is they are being proved completely wrong with sites that are being uncovered lately. The government needs to stop trying to control our ancestors past and release what has been shoved into their warehouses for the past 100 years. Because their false narrative no longer fits our past.
? WTF are you even talking about. You need more information about Anthro/Archeology. Good luck.
Or perhaps carbon dating is way off and these animals lived along side humans. As well as dinosaurs not that long ago.
No. I hope you are joking
Roger that sir!
Au contraire. The orthodoxy of Anthro/Archeology is based on assumptions that cannot be proved. Many finds such as this one indicate the orthodoxy is unorthodox and incorrect. It is you who needs to educate himself. “Good luck.”
You have to watch ancient apocalypse on Netflix
Interesting and exciting info. That’s the art of science, every new discovery clarifies or broadens our understanding of what has been, what is, and what may be.
Meanwhile, in Qanonsense World, they come here to cry “science lied to me! The world is only 2k years old!” 🤣
To me it looks much like the antelope or equid image right next to it. What people see as a beak may be nothing more than the loss of pigment due to spalling or flaking.
Or a case of suggestive Pareidolia.
Wish only smart people gave 2 cents cause yours fell under the machine
Archeologists aren’t just throwing a number out there. They have scientific testing such as carbon dating to find out when something was created/died/existed etc. History is always going to be rewritten in some way. There is really no way to know precisely what these ancient people were thinking or trying to explain/understand in their drawings. The best we can do is hypothesize and that can change with new discoveries, advances in science, or even the particular scientist’s point of view, because there is no concrete anwser to what they were trying to portray, of course it can be twisted to fit anyone’s ideas of what that could be. My problem in all this is that the title of this article makes it seem like these were some prehistoric people. These cave drawings are from the almost mid 1800’s. If these people were accompished archeologists at that time you think they would have a better system for recording their findings instead of scribbling in caves. That was something that Ice Age civilizations did. Books were around by that day and age (and actually well before), and I would think they would have a written language. I just think these people were not intelligent or advanced enough to make all these findings. Yes they may have found skeletons sticking out of the ground (which from this story seems to be prevalent in their area) so they drew pictures of them. I don’t think that rewrites archeological history however.
A) Carbon dating is incapable of dating anything that is 200 million years old. CD is also riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies when compared to organic material of known age. I think you mean “radiometric dating”. Those methods, too, suffer from similar weaknesses to carbon, and are based on assumptions that have not and cannot be proved. The dates are only good if the assumptions are true. B) The very notion that ancients patterned their cave art after bones or tracks they found is backward reasoning. It is irrational and laughable on its face.
Who was painting 200 million years ago?
If so, it’s a very strange bird. No wings, and 4 short stubby legs on a barrel-like body? Maybe it’s a reptile that’s evolving into a bird! It just hasn’t got its wings yet. Somebody needs to ring a bell. (sigh)
I think it is Jesus
100% and since he’s riding a surfboard, these people must have been able to predict the future of aquatic sporting while also having enough imagination to combine two eras of history into one – true revolutionaries.
To draw the bones then by a swipe of a single brush 🖌️ stroke bring skin to the life of this “enormous brute”. Curious was there scanning done to look under this top layer of pigment.
It looks like a walrus to me.
A skeleton of this creature hangs in the science building at Harvard University. I had the pleasure of looking at it every day, so it is what they say it is! There’s even a plaque identifying this creature on the floor below it!
There is no such thing as god and there is no historical evidence that Jesus ever walked the earth! Don’t mix up your fake beliefs and science!
Sad you have no sense of humor. Autistic? or just stupid?
Bart Ehrman, one of the most respected Biblical scholars and an atheist said that Jesus is so well arrested in history than anyone denying the historical evidence for the existence of Jesus of Nazareth cannot be taken seriously by scholars.
We’re so glad that your ASSumption matters not when it comes to our spiritual walk. Your lack of knowledge does not change the fact that God and His Son Jesus Christ exists. Creation itself screams of having a Creator who had a perfectly designed plan. Common sence will tell you when you are looking at a beautiful piece of art, it has to have had a Creator. Even a clay pot has to have been made by a Potter.
Amen brother. Well said. Have you read Rom 1 lately? Describes this age pretty accurately.
Yes! He educated reasonability of his works. The Bible gives testimony in Romans 1:20 “ For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.”
Science does not exist. Science is something you pay for.
Actually, there’s plenty of evidence. He did exist, alright. But he didn’t do much…
… and he most certainly wasn’t a divine being.
Or, like any rational person would interpret, you have both the 250 million year old date wrong on the animal. And that cave painting was not from the 1850’s. Is this a satirical article, or are you wanting to be taken seriously? Are people this arrogant, to think “nothing we’ve assumed about history can possibly be incorrect, which means this has to be a fairly recent drawing that proves primitive people drew animals from 250 million years ago. There’s no other explanation, no matter how ridiculous this one sounds.”
Hubris is always entertaining, but it seems exhausting to do those mental gymnastics all the time.
So serious 🥱
Well stated.
My sentiments exactly!
It looks like a honey badger to me: especially the body shape and coat pattern.
Fat snake.
Maybe, just maybe, th3 bird was alive and painted 20 – 30,000 years ago and not as recently as first assumed.
Mistakes have been made throughout our history because, we believe we’re more intelligent, so therefore we have to be right with our timeline
I think somebody has a very vivid imagination. He should stick more to science and facts and leave the hallucinations to AI
Yet another example of history being rewritten to suit the diversity crowd. The “primitive people” mention never even invented the wheel, and yet we’re expected to believe they are equal in stature to modern paleontologists? At best, they tried to incorporate the things they found–fossils–into their culture, so as to provide something, either entertainment or understanding.
Any 5 year old will do that, if you show him a skull and a few bones.
When I was about 5 I entertained my parents with my insistence that I had found a Dinah Shore bone.
Perhaps the authors should look up the definition of apophenia — it may be the beginning stages of schizophrenia.
Tough crowd? Lol
Maybe, they meant to say that it was discovered no later than 1835.
This stone picture also drowed as a art in somalilnd cave las geel
I keep thinking it’s a walrus.
Why is no one seeking the egg shape on the right bottom corner of the pictures that’s what we should be worried about
Or l WHY NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE NUMBERS ALL OVER THIS PAINTING AND LETTERS.
You mean the guy’s fingertip? Look closely. That’s a fingernail. 🤣
This was a depiction of a chicken stealing someone’s noodles.
The artist had a sense of humor, as I hope you all do.
Its congkak .game invented for release boring ..
Who is really to know about millions of years ago. Painting don’t tell the whole story. A walrus type animal could have been in that area. Land masses and oceans have been changing throughout history so until a real body of evidence is found everything is open for discussion.
Might have been a defect of a certain animal. Thought to put it into stone format. Some defects might have been seen as divine,
It’s a further reach to think the people in southern africa opened a science department and engaged in paleantological fossil reconstruction than it is to accept the dating s*cks and those animals lived at the time with people aka humans