Many ancient creatures were somehow both terrifying and awesome at the same time. Take, for instance, humongous griffinflies big enough to blot out the view of the Sun. Similarly, a newly discovered ancient amphibian is terrifying, awesome—and, importantly, illustrative of the remarkable evolutionary pathways of life on Earth.

A study published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution describes the physiology and biology of Gerrothorax maritimus , an amphibian from roughly 237 million years ago, during the Late Triassic. The amphibian’s skeletons—recovered from previous excavations in China—were nearly complete, allowing the researchers to estimate its length at about 30 inches (75 centimeters). Similar to an extant suction-feeding shark , the animal likely sat in wait on the seafloor for prey unfortunate enough to cross its path—as vividly depicted in the terrifying image above.…