By: Catherine Yanlin Xu
On August 8, 2024, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, the oldest dinosaur fossil was found. It was a 233 million year old dinosaur. The fossil was found when heavy rain fell on some parts of the fossil site just right where the fossil was, revealing it to us by washing all the dirt away. I guess now it’s a good thing that Brazil gets a lot of rain!!
The fossil was expected to belong in the Herrerasauridae carnivorous dinosaur family. The dinosaur was predicted to be living in the Triassic period, which also means the time when all of the earth’s continents were a single mass or piece of land which was called the Pangea. This period of time lasted for an insane amount of time of 50.5 million years.
These dinosaurs were a species called the Nyasasaurus Parrington. They grew to about 2.5 in length and have two legs.
“It’s among the oldest in the world,” says Rodrigo Müller. “It’s already important because of the role it’s likely to play in helping us understand the origin of the dinosaur,” says Rodrigo Müller from the Federal University of Santa Maria in the Brazilian media, again.
Paleontologists are now racing for time to dig out the fossil fully. It’s now uncovered but if they don’t hurry up, the big rain can easily destroy it.
Let us pray that these paleontologists can quickly dig out the remaining fossils soon.
Sources: