Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Science

This 237-million-year-old fossil from Brazil could shed light on rise of dinosaurs

Scientists in Brazil have announced the discovery of one of the world's oldest fossils believed to belong to an ancient reptile dating back some 237 million years that could help explain the rise of the dinosaurs.

One of the oldest fossils ever discovered, Gondwanax paraisensis was a 4-legged reptile species

Thomson Reuters ·
The camera focuses on a twisted lump of dark brown rock and bone, which is being held up by a man directly in front of his blurred, out of focus face. There is a black backdrop to the image.
Rodrigo Temp Muller, a paleontologist from the Federal University of Santa Maria, holds a fossil called Gondwanax paraisensis, a species that lived 237 million years ago and was a precursor to dinosaurs, in the Cappa laboratory in Sao Joao do Polesine, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on Oct. 8. (Diego Vara/Reuters)

Scientists in Brazil have announced the discovery of one of the world's oldest fossils believed to belong to an ancient reptile dating back some 237 million years that could help explain the rise of the dinosaurs.

Named Gondwanax paraisensis, the four-legged reptile species was roughly the size of a small dog with a long tail, or about one metre (39 inches) long and weighing between three and six kilograms (seven to 13 pounds), the scientists said in a statement on Monday.

The small reptile would have likely roamed the land of what is today southern Brazil, when the world was much hotter.

A set of dark brown fossils are laid out on a black surface, while a blurry shape of a man leans over them. He is holding one of the fossils in his hand.
Paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Muller analyzes a Gondwanax paraisensis fossil in the Cappa laboratory. The fossil was originally found in 2014 and then donated to a university in 2021, kicking off three years of research. (Diego Vara/Reuters)

The fossil has been identified as a new silesaurid, an extinct group of reptiles. Paleontologists debate whether silesaurids were true dinosaurs or possibly a precursor to the creatures that once dominated the Earth.

"Understanding the characteristics of these precursors could shed light on what was crucial for the dinosaurs' evolutionary success," the statement said.

A glimpse at the world 237 million years ago

Unearthed in a rock layer dating back to the Triassic period, between 252 million and 201 million years ago, the Gondwanax paraisensis fossil comes from the time when dinosaurs as well as mammals, crocodiles, turtles and frogs first arose.

In 2014, physician Pedro Lucas Porcela Aurelio found the fossil in the town of Paraiso do Sul in Brazil's southernmost Rio Grande do Sul state.

A camera shot from above looks down on the cross-section of a large dinosaur fossil. A man sits next to the fossil, holding a much smaller, dark brown lump of rock and bone.
Muller holds Gondwanax paraisensis next to a contemporary fossil of Prestosuchus chiniquensis, a species that lived 237 million years ago, in the Cappa laboratory. (Diego Vara/Reuters)

He donated it to a local university in 2021, kicking off three years of research.

"Being the first human to touch something from 237 million years ago is extraordinary," Aurelio told Reuters.

"It's an indescribable feeling," said the self-described paleontology buff since childhood.

The discovery is detailed in an article by paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Mullerublished late last month in the scientific journal Gondwana Research.

"The most important part of this finding is its age," Muller said in an interview. "Because it's so old, it gives us clues as to how dinosaurs came to be."

A brown, rocky coast is shown next to water. Two men crouch at the water's edge, looking at something among the rocks. In the distance, mountains are visible, and a tree sits at the right side of the image.
Muller and geologist Jossano de Rosso Morais, both from the Federal University of Santa Maria, are seen on Oct. 9, searching for fossils at the archaeological site where a fossil of the Gondwanax paraisensis was discovered in the town of Paraiso do Sul, Brazil. (Diego Vara/Reuters)

He added that the remains were covered by a thick layer of rock when donated by Aurelio and initially only parts of the vertebrae were visible.

Gondwanax means "lord of Gondwana," referring to the Gondwana landmass in the southern region of the supercontinent Pangaea before the continents broke apart, while paraisensis honors the town of Paraiso do Sul.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

Related Stories