.jpg)
6 hours ago
2
One of the world’s oldest dinosaurs has been discovered in Argentina — it just happens to be missing its head.
Scientists working in La Rioja discovered the 230-million-year-old fossil in the foothills of a mountain range. The study, published in Nature, introduces us to a new long-necked species, named Huayracursor jaguensis, that lived during the Late Triassic period. The almost complete skeleton was found in difficult terrain that has recently become a treasure trove for Triassic-era discoveries.
“It’s one of those discoveries that don’t come along often,” said Martín Hechenleitner, a CONICET researcher at the Regional Center for Scientific Research and Technology Transfer of La Rioja, in a press release.
“We estimate that Huayracursor must have been between 230 and 225 million years old, making it one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world,” added Agustín Martinelli, a CONICET researcher at the Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences.
Read More: The Oldest Dinosaur Was Nyasasaurus, Which Lived During the Middle Triassic and Stood 3 Feet Tall
Discovering One of the World’s Oldest Dinosaurs
Huayracursor was an early sauropodomorph, a group of herbivorous dinosaurs known for their long necks. Although its size sounds small, at an estimated about 6 feet long (two meters) and about 40 pounds, the Huayracursor was bigger than other Bagualasaurs alive during the same time in Argentina.
This size is important as it places this new species as being an important step in the evolutionary success story of its dinosaur family.
“Huayracursor is novel because it exhibits two key features: a considerably longer neck and a larger size than most of its contemporaries. These aspects confirm a very early and synchronous appearance of both characteristics, which were fundamental to the evolutionary history of sauropodomorphs,” said Hechenleitner in the press release.
The team was able to make the size estimates thanks to finding an almost complete skeleton, including parts of the skull, a vertebral column, forelimbs, and hindlimbs.
Exploring Undiscovered Triassic Territory
The research team that discovered the new dinosaur was part of the first group of scientists to explore the particular western region of La Rioja province. Before their expedition, this section of La Rioja hadn’t been explored by scientists due to the treacherous terrain and weather conditions.
The difficult exploration proved to be worth the risk, with paleontologists finding an ample amount of Triassic fauna over the past decade, including the new dinosaur.
“This new region, within a virtually unexplored geological basin, opens up the prospect of major discoveries,” said Martinelli in the press release. “It’s rare in life that one can say that totally new sites have been discovered, with fauna that are extraordinary in their preservation and abundance.”
The new dinosaur’s name was inspired by its home, with Huayracursor a nod to the region’s high winds and jaguensis being a reference to Jagüé, a village close to where the fossil was found.
Expanding the Search in La Rioja
The discovery of one of the world’s oldest dinosaurs holds exciting promise for the future of paleontology. Due to the completeness of the fossil, the specimen will likely be used to help widen the picture of early sauropodomorph evolution.
Additionally, the research team looks forward to expanding its expedition into new territory.
“Based on stratigraphic and sedimentological studies, we were able to recognize that the Triassic terrains of the Northern Precordillera belong to a sedimentary basin that evolved independently of other basins in southwestern Gondwana. This opens the possibility of extending explorations even further west, into the Andes,” said Sebastián Rocher, an author of the paper.
Read More: Dinosaur Highway of Sauropod Footprints Provides Snapshot of Middle Jurassic Life
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
English (US)