Dinosaur fossils discovered by paleontologists working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison have turned out to be the oldest known fossils, making the species millions of years older than previously thought. It showed evidence that it had existed before.
Dave Lovelace, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin Museum of Geology, co-led the expedition with Aaron Kuchner, a graduate student at the University. Lovelace and Kuchner discovered the fossil in 2013, located in the Popo Aggie Rock Formation near a crater in the area now known as Laurasia, Wyoming. After more than a decade of careful analysis to confirm the age of the fossil and its age, researchers identified the reptile, which they named “Ahvaytum bahndooiveche,” as the oldest known species, although it was actually a new species. It was determined that it was an ancient Laurasian. dinosaur. They estimate that the fossil is “approximately 230 million years old.” The research results were published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on January 8th.
“These fossils tell us about the world’s oldest equatorial dinosaur, which is also the oldest North American dinosaur,” Loveless told Ancient Origins.
Loveless believes the dinosaur was an early relative of sauropods, herbivorous dinosaurs known as titanosaurs because of their towering size. However, Abytum barnduiche lived for millions of years before fully evolving, so it was not as large as its future family members. “Abaitum was the size of a large chicken and had a long tail,” Loveless told Men’s Journal. “It would have been just over a foot high at the waist and about 3 feet long.”
Paleontologists used radioisotope dating of the rocks surrounding the fossils to determine that the lizards existed 230 million years ago. In the process, “dinosaur-like” footprints were also discovered in even older rocks, indicating that other dinosaur species existed millions of years ago.
Lovelace told Men’s Journal that the footprints were “made by an animal whose hind feet have three fingers that touch the ground, with the middle finger longer than the other two, and are similar to dinosaurs and other animals. It is likely to be found in closely related species.” It was created by a Silesaurus or dinosaur-like creature,” he continued.
“Importantly, the traces[of Atrepus glarator]come from rocks that are at least 234 million years old, making it more than 4 million years older than Avitum. Creatures (in other words, suggesting the most recent dinosaur ancestors) existed in the Northern Hemisphere even earlier! “This is consistent with evidence from the Southern Hemisphere,” Loveless said.
Encouraged by the discovery of Atrapus glarator, Lovelace said he and his crew will “continue to search for new fossils (both bones and footprints) and continue to build environmental, climate, and ecosystem stories.” Everything we found is new.” “And it helps expand our understanding of the dawn of dinosaurs and the early evolution of modern fauna as we know it today,” he added.
Mike Klein/University of Wisconsin-Madison