By: Maggie Z

In June, the South American state of Rio Grande do Sul of Brazil was bombarded with torrents of heavy rain. Many streets flooded. The rain eroded and washed away some of the dirt at paleontologists’ dig site and uncovered one of the world’s oldest dinosaur fossils!

This dinosaur is called the Herrerasaurus (Herrera’s lizard, named after the rancher who found the first Herraerasaurus). It lived during the Triassic period, which lasted approximately 50 million years. This dinosaur roamed on two legs on the supercontinent Pangea. It grew up to about 8 and a quarter feet and was a carnivore, meaning it ate other animals. “It’s among the oldest [dinosaurs] in the world,” Rodrigo Müller from the Federal University of Santa Maria posted online. “It’s already important because of the role it’s likely to play in helping us understand the origin of the dinosaurs.”

The flooding in Brazil happened as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), occurs when there is an invasion of hot or warm water in an area). Brazil received three months worth of rain in just two weeks, breaking a record for the most rainfall! The state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, received almost 540 millimeters (around 21 and a quarter inches) of rain!

While the discovery of the Herrerasaurus in Brazil following the flood is amazing, the stunning amount of water in the area also had some disastrous effects. According to researchers and paleontologists who were at the dig site after the flooding, a “leg bone and a pelvis bone” have already been destroyed. State officials are encouraging the team to excavate the fossils before it floods anymore.