Discover the oldest dinosaurs?

Fossil bones were unearthed by British paleontologists in Tanzania, the ancient British colony, in the 1930s may belong to the oldest known dinosaur ever, AFP reports. of scientists on December 5 said.

The skeleton may belong to the oldest dinosaur, or the closest relative to the dinosaurs discovered to this day, according to scientists at the University of Washington (USA).

Fossils are dated to about 243 million years, Triassic. It has before the dinosaurs that have been known for 10 to 15 million years. At the same time, fossils also show the birth area of ​​that mysterious creature in Pangea supercontinent.

Nyasasaurus is said to be the oldest known dinosaur
come, or be the closest relative to the dinosaurs - (Photo: Washington University)

Named Nyasasaurus , the creature thought to be the oldest dinosaur is about 80cm tall, 3 meters long with a tail about 1.5 meters long. It can weigh from 20 to 60kg.

According to AFP, the name Nyasasaurus was placed by paleontologist Rex Parrington of the University of Cambridge (UK), originally from Lake Nyasa, today known as Lake Malawi - where the fossil piece was discovered.

Parrington's archaeological team unearthed six fragments of fossil bones and vertebrae from sediment in the Ruhuhu valley in southern Tanzania in the early 1930s.

The location where fossils were discovered supported the long-held theory that dinosaurs originally evolved in the southern part of Pangea, the supercontinent on the earth before the continental drift separated it into continents. separate places. The southern part of Pangea includes Africa, Australia, South America and Antarctica.

Since its discovery, the importance of Nyasasaurus fossils has not been known, until Washington University scientists used modern scanning technology to compare Parrington's specimens at Bao. London Museum of Natural History (UK) and two other Nyasasaurus bones at the South African Museum in Cape Town.

Nyasasaurus fossil site - (Photo: Washington University)

According to Nesbitt, over the past 150 years, people have thought of a dinosaur that could exist since the midst of the Three Gorges, but archaeological evidence could not help them confirm it.

It is known that the Tam Diep period, from 201-252 million years ago, witnessed the emergence of dinosaurs, and other creatures such as turtles, frogs, lizards, mammals, respectively. born.

If the new Nyasasaurus study is authentic, the time of "reign" on the planet of the dinosaurs can be extended by another 10 to 15 million years, until they are wiped out by a great event. strains, possibly a giant meteorite crash into the earth.

The study was published on 5.12 on the Royal Society's Biological Journal.