Brazilian scientists say recently discovered fossils may help explain how dinosaurs evolved and came to dominate the Earth.
The bones date back about 237 million years, which corresponds to the Middle to Upper Triassic period, and are the oldest existing record of pre-dinosaur reptiles, the newspaper said. Published in Gondwana Research journal.
First discovered in 2014 by Pedro Lucas Porcella Aurelio near the town of Praiso do Sul in southern Brazil, the study was picked up by paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Muller in 2021.
“Being the first human to touch something that is 237 million years old is extraordinary,'' says Aurelio. told Reuters. “It's a feeling you can't describe in words.”
Professor Muller named the fossil Gondwanaz paraescensis and believes it holds answers to the early evolution of dinosaurs and their genetic relatives.
“Gondwana” means “Lord of Gondwana” and refers to a specific continent that was part of Pangea. “Paracensis” is a homage to the town's name.
The creature is thought to have been about the size of a small dog, weighed about 10 pounds, and had a tail up to a meter long. It is considered a “dinosauria”, a group that includes dinosaurs and their relatives.
This specimen specifically is a member of a family called Silesauridae. This group shares many characteristics with dinosaurs, but predates the oil suppliers by millions of years. Although they share much morphology with dinosaurs and are both quadrupedal reptiles, silesaurids have subtle physical differences, such as differences in their cervical vertebrae.
Silesauridae are said to have existed for 30 million years, and for context, Homo sapiens is thought to have first appeared 300,000 years ago.
Professor Müller reports that one of the key features of this great fossil find is the presence of three sacral vertebrae, a feature commonly observed in more derived forms of silesaurids. More specifically, scientists believe this fossil may represent an archosaur ancestor. Archosaurs themselves are the ancestors of modern animals such as crocodiles and birds.
The research paper suggests that these vertebrae exhibit a “high degree of locomotor strategy diversity”, meaning the creature may have been able to adapt to many types of terrain. are.
“The most important part of this discovery is its age,” Muller said. said in an interviewadded, “It's so old that it gives us clues about how dinosaurs came to be.”
