A significant paleontological discovery has been made in South America with the unearthing of a nearly complete skeleton of one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world. This find contributes to the growing list of crucial scientific discoveries globally.
The skeleton belongs to an unknown species that roamed the Earth approximately 230 million years ago, as reported by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet). Researchers highlighted that the age of this species places it in the Late Triassic period, a time when the first dinosaurs and mammal ancestors emerged.
The fossils were discovered by Argentine scientists in the Andes mountain range, specifically at an elevation of 3,000 meters in the province of La Rioja, Argentina. The long-necked dinosaur has been named Huayracursor jaguensis. The paleontological team from Conicet made this remarkable find.
According to Agustin Martinelli, one of the authors of the research published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, “We estimate that Huayracursor must be around 230 to 225 million years old, making it one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world.”
This species is part of a lineage of herbivorous dinosaurs that includes the long-necked giants, although an adult Huayracursor measured about two meters in length and weighed approximately 18 kilograms, as noted by the researchers. The skeleton includes a portion of the skull, a complete vertebral column extending to the tail, and nearly complete forelimbs and hind limbs.
The nearly complete nature of this fossil is expected to serve as a key reference for studying the early evolution of dinosaurs. This discovery adds to recent findings by British researchers who identified a new species of prehistoric marine reptile from the ichthyosaur family, dubbed the “Dorset sword dragon,” as announced by the University of Manchester last Friday.
Additionally, a digital reconstruction of a one-million-year-old skull in late September suggested that humans may have diverged from their ancestors 400,000 years earlier than previously believed, and that this divergence occurred in Asia rather than Africa, according to a study published in Science.
As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, scientists are adapting to new tools that aid in their efforts to reconstruct a past that is essential for understanding the evolution of ecosystems.
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