Scientists have found a fossil in southern Brazil that could help explain how dinosaurs first appeared. The fossil, from a newly discovered reptile species called Gondwanax paraisensisis about 237 million years old, making it one of the oldest reptile fossils ever found.
The Gondwanax paraisensis was a small, four-legged reptile, roughly the size of a small dog. It measured about 1 meter (39 inches) long and weighed between 3 to 6 kg (7 to 13 pounds). This reptile likely lived in what is now southern Brazil during the Triassic period, a time when the Earth was much hotter.
The fossil belongs to a group of extinct reptiles called silesaurids. Scientists are still debating whether silesaurids were true dinosaurs or a species that came before them. Studying this new species could help us understand what traits made dinosaurs so successful.
“This discovery helps us learn more about the animals that led to the rise of dinosaurs,” said paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Müller, who led the study. The fossil was found in a rock layer from the Triassic period, a time when many animals like mammals, crocodiles, turtles, and frogs first appeared.
The fossil was originally discovered in 2014 by Pedro Lucas Porcela Aurelio, a doctor in Paraiso do Sul, a town in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state. He donated it to a university in 2021, starting three years of research.
“Touching something that’s 237 million years old is an indescribable feeling,” said Aurelio, a long-time fan of paleontology.
The discovery was published in the journal Gondwana Research last month. According to Müller, the fossil’s age is key. “Because it’s so old, it helps us understand how dinosaurs first appeared,” he said.
The name Gondwanax means “lord of Gondwana,” referring to the southern part of the supercontinent Pangaea. The species name paraisensis honors the town of Paraiso do Sul where the fossil was found.
(With inputs from Reuters)
