By: Aiden Ding

A 223 million year old fossil has been uncovered from the depths of Brazil, and all because of a torrential rainstorm.

The June rainstorms in Brazil uncovered parts of an eroded fossil site, revealing a dinosaur’s skeleton.

An almost fully preserved fossil was discovered near a reservoir in Rio Grande do Sul, a state in Brazil. Most scientists agree that the fossil lived in the Triassic period, which is about 201-255 million years ago. The dinosaur was most likely the Herrerasaurus, which means Herrera’s lizard.

This species grew to be about 2.5 meters long, and was two-legged.

“It’s among the oldest in the world,” said Rodrigo Müller, a member from the Federal University of Santa Maria to the country’s media.

“It’s already important because of the role it’s likely to play in helping us understand the origin of the dinosaurs,” he said later on.

The Herrerasaurus is a saurischian, and its diet mainly consists of small lizard creatures called rhynchosaurs, and aetosaurs, a cross between a pig and an armadillo. If it had to run away, it could have climbed up tall trees and large boulders. The Herrerasaurus’ main predator was Saurosuchus, a land dwelling-crocodile, and Fasoluchus Tenax, one of the main predators in Argentina.

The reason for the discovery was all because of Brazil’s bad weather. Brazil’s streets were flooded at the time, making it hard to travel. Because of this, scientists are racing against nature to uncover more fossils before the rain uncovers and destroys them. A leg bone and pelvis bone were already uncovered by the rain and destroyed.

Wish them luck so they can win the race against Mother Nature!