According to Live Science, Brazilian paleontologists claim to have just discovered one of the oldest representatives of the most terrifying “age of monsters” on Earth, when dinosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, pterosaurs… dominated the 3 periods of Triassic – Jurassic – Cretaceous.
It is a representative of the Triassic Herrerasauridae, which is considered one of the oldest groups of carnivorous dinosaurs, although it is still controversial.
Herrerasaurus (meaning “Herrera’s lizard”, after the rancher who discovered the first fossil of the animal) is one of the earliest dinosaur genera. All specimens of this carnivore were discovered in rocks from the early Carnian stage (late Triassic, about 231.4 million years ago) in northwestern Argentina. (according to Wikipedia)
The fossilized remains of the monster belonging to the Herrerasauridae family were unexpectedly exposed during the torrential rains that the Brazilian city of São João do Polêsine, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, suffered in May.
According to the Brazilian news agency Agência Brasil, the skeleton of this dinosaur was almost completely preserved next to a reservoir in the city.
Scientists have only conducted preliminary studies and made the first arguments that it belongs to the Herrerasauridae family.
“This is one of the oldest fossils in the world and could play a role in “helping us understand the origins of dinosaurs,” said paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Müller from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil), who led the excavation team.
A previously excavated specimen, believed to be of Herrerasauridae, is on display in an Australian museum – Photo: Shutterstock
According to Dr. Müller, the ancient dinosaur group mentioned above belongs to the first wave of predatory dinosaurs to occupy the food chain that evolved on Earth.
The individual found on the shore of a lake in Brazil had a body length of about 2.5 meters when alive, but its relatives could have been even larger.
