Brazilian researchers discover dinosaur fossil after heavy rains in Rio Grande do Sul

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A team of Brazilian scientists has discovered the fossilized skeleton of what they believe is one of the world’s oldest dinosaurs. They made their discovery after heavy rains in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul accelerated natural erosion. The fossil found next to a reservoir is around 233 million years old, according to a paleontologist who led the university team that found the bones in May. That would mean the dinosaur lived during the Triassic period, when all continents were part of a single land mass called Pangaea. Dinosaurs are believed to have first evolved at that time. Researchers will now try to determine if it’s a new species or an already-known one.