Reptile Fossil That Lived Before Dinosaurs Found in Brazil

The fossil of a reptile that lived before dinosaurs was found in southern Brazil. The discovery was published in the magazine 'Scientific Reports' this Thursday.

According to Rodrigo Temp Müller, paleontologist at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and author of the study, it is a new species from a group that had not yet been reported in Brazil, the 'gracilisuchidae'. "Until now, the group was only known from three species - two from China and one from Argentina," Müller told g1.

The reptile was a small predator and was found in an area where there were no records of precursors to small alligators and crocodiles. "This shows that the ecosystems that preceded the origin of dinosaurs were very complex in relation to the lineage that later gave rise to alligators and crocodiles," he revealed.

The new fossil was named 'parvosuchus aurelioi'. The first name means "small crocodile" as the fossil belonged to an animal that would have only reached 1 meter in length, while "aurelioi" pays homage to Pedro Lucas Porcela Aurélio, who discovered the fossil materials.

According to Müller, 'gracilisuquids' lived from around 247 to 237 million years ago, during the Triassic Period. The oldest dinosaurs were excavated from sites approximately 230 million years old.

"In total, the fossil preserves the complete skull, part of the spine, the pelvic girdle and the hind limbs", added the paleontologist,