Hey A fossil of a reptile that lived before dinosaurs has been found in southern Brazil. The discovery was published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday.
According to Rodrigo Tempm-Müller, a paleontologist at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and author of the study, it is a new species from a group not yet reported in Brazil, the “gracili suchidae”. “Until now, the group was only known from three species – two from China and one from Argentina,” Müller told g1.
This reptile was a small predator, and was found in an area where there are no records of the ancestors of small crocodiles and crocodiles. “This indicates that the ecosystems that preceded the origin of dinosaurs were very complex in terms of the lineage that later led to the emergence of crocodiles and crocodiles,” he revealed.
The new fossil has been named “parvo suchus aurelioi”. The first name means “little crocodile” because the fossil belongs to an animal that reached only one meter in length, while “Aurelui” pays tribute to Pedro Lucas Porcilla Aurelio, who discovered the fossil material.
According to Müller, “gracilisuquids” lived about 247 to 237 million years ago, during the Triassic Period. The oldest dinosaurs have been excavated at sites about 230 million years old.
The paleontologist added: “In general, the fossil preserves the complete skull, part of the spine, pelvic girdle and hind limbs.”
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