Resembling a reptilian pit bull, or even the demon dogs in “Ghostbusters”, Bunostegos akokanensis roamed the ancient supercontinent Pangea 260 million years ago. Before the findings, scientists believed that all pareiasaurs who lived in the supercontinet of Pangea were sprawlers who had limbs that would jut out from the side of the body and then continue out or slant out from the elbow.

“Imagine a cow-sized, plant-eating reptile with a knobby skull and bony armor down its back”, explained researcher Linda Tsuji of the Royal Ontario Museum in an interview.

Well, either this or at least it’s the oldest creature known to walk upright on all its fours limbs thus far documented by science, specialists explain in their report in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Its name is Bunostegos akokanensis and it was a ‘pareiasaur parareptile’ that had the size of a cow and the looks of a rhino and inhabited the Earth 269 million years ago. It would restrict the humerus from sticking out to the side.

Meanwhile Bunostegos’s humerus is not twisted like those of sprawlers. Scientists have associated walking upright on all fours with more energy efficiency than sprawling.

Turner and her colleagues identified several design components that make Bunostegos’ forelimbs unique. Rather, it would function like a human knee, back and forth. Finally, the researchers noted that the Bunostegos’ ulna is longer than the humerus, a common characteristic among non-sprawlers.

‘The elements and features within the forelimb bones won’t allow a sprawling posture. “We don’t see upright posture, with the legs underneath the body, in both the forelimb and the hindlimb in a single animal until much later, in mammals and in dinosaurs”, Morgan Turner, a Ph.D. student at Brown University in Rhode Island and lead author of the study, told The Huffington Post in an email.

The bones in four areas: 1) the shoulder 2) the humerus 3) the elbow joint 4) the radius and ulna.

“Sprawling” posture describes the way lizards’ legs come out of their bodies – horizontally in the upper part of the limb, and vertically from the joint down to the ground.

Turner said she wouldn’t be surprised if similarities were found between Bunostegos akokanensis’ posture and other animals’ of the same time period. “The anatomy of Bunostegos is unexpected, illuminating and tells us we still have much to learn”.

For the lengthy journeys between meals, Turner stated, the upright posture may need been crucial for survival. “Bunostegos is much further back on the evolutionary tree than anything else that exhibits this posture [and] hints at a larger story about posture and locomotion evolution…”

Posture, from sprawling to upright, is not black or white, but instead is a gradient of forms.