(NLĐO) - Scientists describe the strange creature they found in Brazil as a species of "dinosaur, but not a dinosaur."
According to Sci-News , a 237-million-year-old fossil of a strange creature has been unearthed from Triassic rock formations in southern Brazil.
It has been identified as a completely new species belonging to the extinct reptile group Silesauridae, which includes species that are "dinosaurs but not dinosaurs," as described by a research team led by paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Müller from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil).
The unusual creature Gondwanax paraisensis has just been unearthed in Brazil - Photo: Gondwana Research
A study recently published in the scientific journal Gondwana Research has reconstructed the appearance of a strange creature that was recently unearthed: a reptile that looks very much like a dinosaur but has four long, slender limbs, and even its two forelimbs are quite similar to our arms.
It was named Gondwanax paraisensis.
The Silesauridae family of reptiles to which this strange creature belongs still holds many mysteries.
According to the most widely accepted arguments, Silesauridae are the closest "sisters" of the Dinosauria branch, or dinosaurs.
Some researchers also suggest that it belongs to a lineage of dinosaurs that were once abundant in South America.
But overall, they resemble dinosaurs in some ways and flourished during the Triassic period, the same era in which the first dinosaurs emerged and which sometimes confuse paleontologists.
"Regardless of their phylogenetic context, Silesauridae lived in Triassic lands for over 30 million years," the authors stated.
Because of their much shorter lifespan compared to the dinosaur lineage and their ancient age, data on Silesauridae in the paleontological record is limited.
Therefore, the appearance of this strange creature in southern Brazil presents a great opportunity for scientists to learn more about this mysterious reptile family, including its origins and its position on the reptile family tree.
This includes answering the question of whether Silesauridae were dinosaurs, and if not, what the specific kinship was, and what a common ancestor might have been...
Dating back 237 million years, Gondwanax paraisensis is one of the oldest dinosaur-like creatures ever discovered by humankind.
It also has three interesting sacral vertebrae, a feature that scientists once thought was only found in more evolved reptiles.
This is one of the oldest known dinosaur species in South America and one of the oldest silesaurids in the world .
The skeleton of this animal was found in the Santa Maria Formation in the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Another Silesauridae species, Gamatavus antiquus, was once found in the area, so the appearance of the new species may also suggest that South America was a region where this reptile group once thrived.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/lo-dien-sinh-vat-la-237-trieu-tuoi-ke-gia-mao-khung-long-1962410041123182.htm
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