By: Ellie Zhang
A 233-million-year-old dinosaur fossil, found in Brazil, is thought to be the oldest fossil to ever be discovered.
The fossil was found thanks to torrential rain in the region, which affected lots of areas, including a known fossil site. This is where paleontologists uncovered the dinosaur’s skeleton, near a lake in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and said it to be “almost fully preserved.”
Scientists think that the dinosaur lived in the Triassic period– a time when all the continents on Earth were arranged together as a supercontinent, called Pangea.The period lasted about 50 million years, and was the time when dinosaurs first emerged.
Researchers believe that the fossil is a member of the Herrerasauridae family, a carnivorous type of dinosaur. These dinosaurs grew to about 3 feet and had 2 legs.
“It’s among the oldest in the world,” Rodrigo Müller from the Federal University of Santa Maria told Brazilian media.
“It’s already important because of the role it’s likely to play in helping us understand the origin of the dinosaurs,”
Brazil has received a lot of rain over the past few months– receiving 3 months’ worth of rain in only 2 weeks in June.
Paleontologists are rushing to unearth the remaining parts of the dinosaur, as more heavy rain can destroy them. The leg and pelvis bone had already been broken due to the vast floods. Let’s hope the remains of the dinosaur can be saved in time.
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