A team of palaeontologists from the Federal University of Santa Maria in Brazil has uncovered a remarkably well-preserved dinosaur fossil estimated to be around 200 million years old.
The fossil, dating back to the Triassic period (250 to 200 million years ago), was found encased in a mass of rocks which the team successfully transported to their research center for further study. The discovery is significant as it predates the Jurassic era.
Initial assessments by the researchers indicate that the fossil belongs to the herrerasaurid family, a group of long-tailed, bipedal carnivores that roamed what is now Argentina and Brazil.
Rodrigo Tim Muller, the excavation leader, emphasized the importance of this find. “It is not only one of the oldest dinosaur fossils in the world, but it is also in a very good state of preservation,” he said. Muller highlighted that the fossil would greatly enhance understanding of herrerasaurid anatomy and could be the second most complete fossil of its kind discovered to date.