230-million-year-old dinosaur fossil found after heavy rains in southern Brazil
▲ Paleontologists from UFSM have suggested that this species could be among the oldest dinosaurs in the world, as it is almost complete and very well preserved.Photos by AFP
France Press agency
La Jornada newspaper
Saturday, July 20, 2024, p. 5
Rio de Janeiro. Heavy rains that caused historic flooding in southern Brazil have uncovered a nearly 230-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. Very well preserved
Scientists said.
The fossil was discovered in May in the municipality of São João do Polisín, in Rio Grande do Sul, at an important Triassic fossil site.
This period corresponds to between 250 and 200 million years ago, and it precedes the Jurassic period, which is famous in the Hollywood epic. jurassic park.
After four days of excavation, a team of paleontologists from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) was able to recover and transport the block of rock with the fossilized skeleton.
According to the first observations, it is a specimen about 2.5 meters long from the herrerasaurid family, which were carnivorous predators that inhabited what is now the pampas of Argentina and Brazil.
In addition to being among the oldest dinosaurs in the world, it is almost complete and very well preserved. Therefore, it will bring us a lot of information about the anatomy of these dinosaurs.
Rodrigo Tim Muller, who led the excavation, explained to AFP.
It is likely to be the second most complete specimen of herrerasaurid ever found, he said.
The first was discovered in 2014 in the same area and turned out to be a species unknown until then, and was named Gnathophorax cabreri.
Precise work
Tests are still needed to determine whether it is compatible with another individual of the species or a new individual, the expert said.
Laboratory work to remove and preserve the bone can take some months
Well, it’s a process. Very precise, almost surgical.
.
Every little bit we could get wrong would be information we may never be able to retrieve.
he added.
Once freed, the bones undergo comparative anatomy analysis and other studies.
The data is processed using computer programs that show the degree of relationship between the animal and other information that will help. To understand more about the group’s development
.
This is when the results will be published in scientific publications.
Excavation sites
The present-day Pampa Gaucha region, located in central Rio Grande do Sul state, on the border with Uruguay and Argentina, is home to hundreds of fossil sites, visible through its red soil, that hold keys to understanding the remote Triassic period.
Heavy rains that hit the region in May caused historic flooding, leaving more than 180 dead, thousands of people evacuated and countless material damages.
But at the same time they were both allies and enemies of the findings found in those dinosaur quarries.
Excess rain greatly accelerate the corrosion process
Naturally, resulting in the emergence of the new herrerasaurid.
But the much larger-than-usual size also destroys a lot of material, especially small pieces, if they are not salvaged quickly, Tempe Muller explained.
For this reason, teams from the FSM Colony IV Paleontological Research Support Center have been monitoring the sites for exposed fragments and are working hard to recover them.
In addition to the almost complete skeleton of a dinosaur, during these months they have rescued fossils in other municipalities in the region.
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